Women have ubiquitous exposure to various endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in personal care products, food packaging, and processing. Pregnancy is a phase of increased vulnerability to environmental stressors. Therefore, we aimed to identify questionnaire based variables of pregnant women’s lifestyle factors affecting the prenatal concentrations of EDCs: bis-phenol A (BPA), triclosan (TCS), parabens, and phthalates. We also aimed to explore the association between these lifestyle factors and EDC exposure in pregnant women in South Korea. This study is a part of Korean CHildren’s ENvironmental health Study (Ko-CHENS). The following lifestyle factors: usage of personal care products, eating habits, cooking practices, food storage practices, and chemical exposure were evaluated through questionnaire. We examined prenatal EDCs: phenols (BPA), TCS, parabens (MEP, ETP, and PRP), and phthalates (MEHHP, MEOHP, MECPP, MBZP, MCOP, MCPP, MCNP, and MNBP). The random forest and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression machine learning models were used to predict the important lifestyle factors affecting the prenatal EDC concentrations in pregnant women. Next, we calculated the lifestyle score and evaluated its association with prenatal EDCs, respectively. Our results show that pregnant women who used makeup [β: 1.01, 95% C.I.: 0.01,2.00] >6 times/week had a significant increase in early-pregnancy (EP) ΣParaben exposure. Using perfume up to 3 times/month was significantly associated with EP TCS exposure (β: 0.05, 95% C.I.: 0.01,0.23). While, using perfume >6 times/week was significantly associated to late-pregnancy (LP) ΣParaben exposure, and consuming cup noodles significantly increased LP ΣDEHP exposure. Linear model analysis showed that the lifestyle score significantly increased the EP (β: 0.24, 95% C.I.: 0.07,0.40) and LP (β:0.10, 95% C.I.: 0.01,0.20) ΣParaben exposure. Therefore, pregnant women’s lifestyle factors, such as using makeup and perfume and eating habits (e.g., cup noodle consumption), were associated with prenatal EDC exposure.

中文翻译：

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孕妇的生活方式和接触内分泌干扰化学物质：一种机器学习方法


女性普遍接触个人护理产品、食品包装和加工中存在的各种内分泌干扰化学物质 （EDC）。怀孕是更容易受到环境压力因素影响的阶段。因此，我们旨在确定影响 EDC 产前浓度的孕妇生活方式因素的基于问卷的变量：双酚 A （BPA）、三氯生 （TCS）、对羟基苯甲酸酯和邻苯二甲酸盐。我们还旨在探讨这些生活方式因素与韩国孕妇 EDC 暴露之间的关联。这项研究是韩国 CHildren 环境心理健康研究 （Ko-CHENS） 的一部分。通过问卷调查评估以下生活方式因素：个人护理产品的使用、饮食习惯、烹饪习惯、食品储存习惯和化学品暴露。我们检查了产前 EDC：酚类 （BPA）、TCS、对羟基苯甲酸酯 （MEP、ETP 和 PRP） 和邻苯二甲酸盐 （MEHHP、MEOHP、MECPP、MBZP、MCOP、MCPP、MCNP 和 MNBP）。采用随机森林和最小绝对收缩和选择算子回归机器学习模型预测影响孕妇产前 EDC 浓度的重要生活方式因素。接下来，我们计算生活方式评分并分别评估其与产前 EDCs 的相关性。我们的结果表明，化妆 [β： 1.01， 95% CI： 0.01,2.00] >6 次/周的孕妇怀孕早期 （EP） ΣParaben 暴露量显着增加。每月使用 3 次香水与 EP TCS 暴露显著相关 （β： 0.05， 95% CI： 0.01,0.23）。而使用香水 >6 次/周与妊娠晚期 （LP） ΣParaben 暴露显著相关，食用杯面显著增加 LP ΣDEHP 暴露。 线性模型分析显示，生活方式评分显著增加了 EP （β： 0.24， 95% CI： 0.07,0.40） 和 LP （β：0.10， 95% CI： 0.01,0.20） ΣParaben 暴露。因此，孕妇的生活方式因素，例如使用化妆品和香水以及饮食习惯（例如，食用杯面），与产前 EDC 暴露有关。