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. 2025 Jul;35(4):611-618.
doi: 10.1038/s41370-024-00704-8. Epub 2024 Jul 17.

Associations of exposure to bisphenol-A or parabens with markers of liver injury/function among US adults in NHANES 2011-2016

Rongkun Luo  1 , Mingcong Chen  1 , Shuai Hao  2 , Marady Hun  1 , Shaobin Luo  1 , Feizhou Huang  1 , Zhao Lei  3 , Mingyi Zhao  4
Affiliations

Associations of exposure to bisphenol-A or parabens with markers of liver injury/function among US adults in NHANES 2011-2016

Rongkun Luo et al. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Bisphenol-A (BPA) and parabens are common endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) that are used extensively in consumer products worldwide and are widely found in the environment.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to comprehensively explore the correlations between urinary BPA/parabens levels and liver injury/function markers.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2011 to 2016. The exposure variables were urinary BPA and four urinary parabens [methylparaben (MPB), ethylparaben (EPB), propylparaben (PPB), and butylparaben (BPB)], while the outcome variables were indicators of liver function/injury [alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST/ ALT, albumin (ALB), total protein (TP), total bilirubin (TBIL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4)]. Multiple linear regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression analyses were applied to explore the relationships between the individual/combined exposure variables and the liver injury/function indicators, respectively. Furthermore, stratified analysis was employed to detect the associations influenced by age and sex.

Results: A total of 2,179 adults were eligible for the present analysis. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed positive associations of EPB with AST, ALT, TP, and FIB-4 scores and negative associations of BPA with TP and ALB. The effects of urinary parabens on adverse outcomes in the liver (AST and ALT) were significant in the female and middle-aged subgroups. In addition, the WQS analysis revealed that the mixture of four compounds was negatively associated with ALB. BPA had the greatest effect on the serum ALB concentration (weight = 0.688).

Impact: Our present study provided novel evidence of significant associations between BPA or certain parabens and numerous markers of liver injury/function indicators. We found that higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with worse liver function. Exposure to high EPB/PPB ratios was significantly associated with biomarkers of liver injury.

Keywords: BPA; Chemical mixtures; Liver injury; NHANES; Parabens.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the study protocol was approved by the NCHS Research Ethics Review Board. This study did not require informed consent for participation in accordance with the national legislation and institutional requirements.

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