Emerging exposures of developmental toxicants

Abstract

Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to identify emerging developmental toxicants that are understudied in children's health. Exposures may arise from new products designed to improve utility, to reduce toxicity, or to replace undesirable chemicals. Exposures to less-toxic chemicals may also be significant if they are very commonly used, thereby generating widespread exposure. Sources of exposure include the workplace, personal, home, and office products; food, water, and air.

Recent findings: We describe eight exposure categories that contain numerous potential developmental toxicants. References are discussed if reported in PubMed during the past decade at least 10 times more frequently than in 1990-2000. Examples included phthalates, phenols, sunscreens, pesticides, halogenated flame retardants, perfluoroalkyl coatings, nanoparticles, e-cigarettes, and dietary polyphenols. Replacements are often close structural homologs of their precursors. We suggest biomonitoring as preferred means of exposure assessment to emerging chemicals. Some existing analytic methods would require minimal modification to measure these exposures, but others require toxicokinetic and analytic investigation.

Summary: A deliberate strategy for biomonitoring of emerging replacement chemicals is warranted, especially in view of concerns regarding developmental toxicity. To prevent adverse health effects, it is important to characterize such exposures before they become widely disseminated.

Figure 1

Phthalate urinary metabolites and long-chain replacements measured in the US (geometric means, all NHANES 1999–2012 [11]).

Figure 2

Levels of POPs and PFOS in breastmilk in Sweden, data extracted from Fang et al., [22].