Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals among residents of a rural vegetarian/vegan community
Tordjman K, Grinshpan L, Novack L, Göen T, Segev D, Beacher L, Stern N, Berman T (2016)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2016
Journal
Book Volume: 97
Pages Range: 68-75
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2016.10.018
Abstract
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are increasingly thought to be involved in the rising prevalence of disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and some hormone-dependent cancers. Several lines of evidence have indicated that vegetarian and vegan diets may offer some protection from such diseases. We hypothesized that exposure to selected EDCs among residents of the unique vegetarian/vegan community of Amirim would be lower than what has recently been reported for the omnivorous population in the first Israel Biomonitoring Study (IBMS).We studied 42 Amirim residents (29 vegetarians/13 vegans; 24 women/18men, aged 50.7±13.7y). Subjects answered detailed lifestyle, and multipass, memory-based 24-hr dietary recall questionnaires. Concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA), 11 phthalate metabolites, and the isoflavone phytoestrogens (genistein and daidzein) were determined by GC or LC tandem mass-spectrometry on a spot urine sample. The results were compared to those obtained following the same methodology in the Jewish subgroup of the IBMS (n=184).While a vegetarian/vegan nutritional pattern had no effect on exposure to BPA, it seemed to confer a modest protection (~21%) from exposure to high molecular weight phthalates. Furthermore, the summed metabolites of the high molecular weight phthalate DiNP were 36% lower in vegans compared to vegetarians (P<0.05). In contrast, Amirim residents exhibited a level of exposure to isoflavone phytoestrogens about an order of magnitude higher than in the IBMS (P<0.001).In Israel, a country whose inhabitants demonstrate exposure to EDCs comparable to that of the US and Canada, a voluntary lifestyle of vegetarianism and preference for organic food has a modest, but possibly valuable, impact on exposure to phthalates, while it is associated with a very steep increase in the exposure to phytoestrogens. Major reduction in exposure to EDCs will require regulatory actions.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Tel Aviv University
Israel (IL)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel (IL)
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) / אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב
Israel (IL)
ORT Braude Academic College of Engineering / המִכְלָלָה האָקָדֶמִית להַנְדָּסָה אורט בראודה
Israel (IL)
University of Michigan
United States (USA) (US)
Ministry of Health, State of Israel
Israel (IL)
Israel (IL)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Israel (IL)
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) / אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב
Israel (IL)
ORT Braude Academic College of Engineering / המִכְלָלָה האָקָדֶמִית להַנְדָּסָה אורט בראודה
Israel (IL)
University of Michigan
United States (USA) (US)
Ministry of Health, State of Israel
Israel (IL)
How to cite
APA:
Tordjman, K., Grinshpan, L., Novack, L., Göen, T., Segev, D., Beacher, L.,... Berman, T. (2016). Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals among residents of a rural vegetarian/vegan community. Environment International, 97, 68-75. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.10.018
MLA:
Tordjman, Karen, et al. "Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals among residents of a rural vegetarian/vegan community." Environment International 97 (2016): 68-75.
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