BACKGROUND Observations of adverse developmental and reproductive effects in laboratory animals and wildlife have fueled increasing public concern regarding the potential for various chemicals to impair human fertility. OBJECTIVE Our objective in this study was to assess the effect of occupational exposure to high levels of phthalate esters on the balance of gonadotropin and gonadal hormones ...

BACKGROUND The ubiquitous use of phthalate esters in plastics, personal care products and food packaging materials results in widespread general population exposure. In this report, we extend our preliminary study on the relationship between urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and sperm DNA damage among a larger sample of men and include measurements of mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl)...

BACKGROUND Phthalate diesters are commonly used and have been well established as environmental endocrine disruptors. However, few studies have examined their effects on sex steroid hormones in children. We followed children over time to examine the association between pre- and post-natal phthalate exposure and sex steroid hormone levels at 2, 5, 8, and 11 years of age. METHODS We recruited 4...

BACKGROUND In May 2011, a major incident involving phthalates-contaminated foodstuffs occurred in Taiwan. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was added to foodstuffs, mainly juice, jelly, tea, sports drink, and dietary supplements. Concerns arose that normal pubertal development, especially reproductive hormone regulation in children, could be disrupted by DEHP exposure. OBJECTIVE To investiga...

BACKGROUND Concern over phthalates has emerged because of their potential toxicity to humans. OBJECTIVE We investigated the relationship between the urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and children's intellectual functioning. METHODS This study enrolled 667 children at nine elementary schools in five South Korean cities. A cross-sectional examination of urine phthalate concentra...

BACKGROUND Precocious puberty (PP) currently affects 1 in 5000 children and is 10 times more common in girls. Existing studies have tried to detect an association between phathalic acid esters (PAEs) and PP, but the results did not reach a consensus. OBJECTIVE To estimate the association between PAEs and children with PP based on current evidence. METHODS Databases including PubMed (1978 to...

BACKGROUND Few studies have shown an association between prenatal phthalate exposure and adverse effects on neurodevelopment and behavior in young children. OBJECTIVES We aimed to assess the relationship between prenatal exposure to phthalate esters and behavior syndromes in children at 8 years of age. METHODS A total of 122 mother-child pairs from the general population in central Taiwan w...

Phthalate esters (PEs), especially di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were detected in various water samples such as river water, well water and tap water. On degradation tests of PEs, Tempaku River water degraded almost 100% of diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-isobutyl phthalate and DBP, and approximately 70% of DEHP. All eight isolates from Tempaku River water (R1-R7...

Essential oils are considered as very complex natural mixtures containing numerous components at quite various concentrations. Lythrum salicaria has not been previously subjected to examination of its volatile oil. The present study was carried out to evaluate the essential oil composition of the flowering aerial parts of the plant by using conventionally hydro-distillation (HD) and microwave a...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of phthalate exposure on lung function in the Canadian population. METHODS We tested the association between 1-second forced expiratory volume (FEVl), forced vital capacity (FVC), and urinary phthalate metabolite levels in a nationally representative sample of 3147, from 6 to 49 years old. RESULTS An interquartile increase in mono-n-butyl phthalate was...