Comparison of bisphenols in human urine, whole blood, serum and plasma: levels, optimal matrix identification and health risk

Abstract

Bisphenols (BPs) are widely used endocrine-disrupting chemicals that require accurate biological monitoring, but the optimal biological matrix for the detection of specific analogs remains unclear. This study performed the first comprehensive paired analysis of urine, whole blood, serum, and plasma samples from 38 individuals to systematically evaluate the matrix effects (ME), detection performance, and health risks of seven BPs (BPA, BPS, BPF, BPP, BPZ, BPAF, BPAP). Key findings show that urine is the best matrix for BPA due to minimal ME and highest sensitivity, confirming the reliability of its recent exposure assessment. Whole blood exhibits excellent stability and the highest concentration of ΣBPs, making it ideal for detecting BPF, BPAF, and BPAP and reflecting systemic exposure. Serum provides the best standardized data for BPS and BPP, supporting their use in chronic studies, whereas plasma exhibits specificity for BPZ but requires pretreatment optimization due to significant matrix inhibition. The health risk is negligible, although BPA exposure is skewed to the right in the high-risk subgroup, with surrogates (BPS/BPAP) accounting for less than 1% of the risk of BPA. These results underscore the need, within cost and design constraints, for multi-matrix biological monitoring of a large class of contaminants. Limitations included the small sample size and geographic specificity. Future studies should conduct more rigorous and in-depth health risk assessments, validate matrix-specific exposure windows over time, and extend monitoring to BPs in adipose tissue or breast milk.

Keywords

Bisphenols / human biomonitoring / optimal matrix / matrix effects / health risk assessment