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. 2023 Nov:181:108307.
doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108307. Epub 2023 Nov 4.

Systematic evidence mapping informs a class-based approach to assessing personal care products and pubertal timing

Kyla W Taylor  1 , Kembra L Howdeshell  2 , Paige A Bommarito  2 , Christopher A Sibrizzi  3 , Robyn B Blain  3 , Kristen Magnuson  3 , Courtney Lemeris  3 , Wren Tracy  3 , Donna D Baird  2 , Chandra L Jackson  4 , Symielle A Gaston  2 , Cynthia V Rider  2 , Vickie R Walker  2 , Andrew A Rooney  2
Affiliations

Systematic evidence mapping informs a class-based approach to assessing personal care products and pubertal timing

Kyla W Taylor et al. Environ Int. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Personal care products (PCPs) contain many different compounds and are a source of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including phthalates and phenols. Early-life exposure to EDCs commonly found in PCPs has been linked to earlier onset of puberty.

Objective: To characterize the human and animal evidence on the association between puberty-related outcomes and exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents and, if there is sufficient evidence, identify groups of chemicals and outcomes to support a systematic review for a class-based hazard or risk assessment.

Methods: We followed the OHAT systematic review framework to characterize the human and animal evidence on the association between puberty-related health outcomes and exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents.

Results: Ninety-eight human and 299 animal studies that evaluated a total of 96 different chemicals were identified and mapped by key concepts including chemical class, data stream, and puberty-related health outcome. Among these studies, phthalates and phenols were the most well-studied chemical classes. Most of the phthalate and phenol studies examined secondary sex characteristics and changes in estradiol and testosterone levels. Studies evaluating PCP use and other chemical classes (e.g., parabens) had less data.

Conclusions: This systematic evidence map identified and mapped the published research evaluating the association between exposure to PCPs and their chemical constituents and puberty-related health outcomes. The resulting interactive visualization allows researchers to make evidence-based decisions on the available research by enabling them to search, sort, and filter the literature base of puberty-related studies by key concepts. This map can be used by researchers and regulators to prioritize and target future research and funding to reduce uncertainties and address data gaps. It also provides information to inform a class-based hazard or risk assessment on the association between phthalate and phenol exposures and puberty-related health outcomes.

Keywords: Chemical class; Personal care products; Phenols; Phthalates; Puberty; Systematic evidence map.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Interactive Reference Flow (I-REFF) Diagram
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure1I-REFF. a database searches conducted in PubMed (NLM), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), and Scopus (Elsevier). b Although more than one exclusion reason may apply, for simplicity, only one of the following reasons for exclusion was documented according to the following hierarchy: (1) is a review, editorial, or other publication with no original data; (2) is not published in English; (3) lacks a relevant exposure; (4) lacks a relevant outcome; (5) lacks a relevant population; (6) lacks a comparator (i.e., a control or baseline group); (7) other (e.g., abstract, commentary)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Number of Human Studies by Study Characteristics and Exposure
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure2. a Countries represented by a single study are grouped together under "Other" and include Bangladesh, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Number of Animal Studies by Study Characteristics and Exposure
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure3.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Number of Human and Animal Studies by Outcome, Exposure, and Evidence Stream
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure4. a Animal studies evaluating adrenal hormones assessed only dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). bHuman studies evaluating inhibin assessed only inhibin B. c Clinical diagnoses only applicable to human studies.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.. Number of Human Studies by Exposure Assessment Method and Exposure
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure5.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.. Number of Human and Animal Studies by Outcome, Evidence Stream, and Single Exposure or Exposure Mixture
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure6. a Only dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is represented in animal data. b Only inhibin B is represented in human data. c Clinical diagnoses only apply to human studies.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.. Number of Human Studies by Outcome and Exposure
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure7.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.. Number of Animal Studies by Outcome and Exposure
An interactive version of this figure is available to view at https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/division.of.translational.toxicology.dtt./viz/PCPPubertyDraftVisuals_16663567465980/Figure8.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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