Researchers from the ibs.GRANADA awarded for a study that determines the presence of heavy metals in the Andalusian population
The group of Basic and Clinical Oncology of the ibs.GRANADA, led by Dr. Nicolás Olea, scientists from the University of Granada and the San Cecilio de Granada Clinical Hospital and the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) have determined that 9 of Every 10 socks for babies from 0 to 4 years old contain traces of bisphenol A and parabens, two endocrine disruptors whose hormonal activities are related to dysfunctions that lead to disease in both children and adults.
This scientific work, the first of its kind to be carried out across Europe, reveals that textiles can be a source of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemical pollutants, a situation of particular concern when it comes to the exposure of young children.
In addition, researchers have found significant differences in the amount of the toxic product detected depending on the store where the socks are purchased. In the work, samples of 32 pairs of socks for children between 1 and 48 months of age were analyzed, which were bought in three different local stores, classified according to the price of their items: Low-priced clothing stores (three pairs of 1.5-1.8 Euros), franchise clothing stores (three pairs from 3.0 to 4.5 Euros) and exclusive brand clothing stores (three pairs from 6.95-7.95 Euros).
Researchers from Granada have studied, using sophisticated analytical chemistry techniques and complex biological tests that quantify hormonal activity, the presence of the plastic component bisphenol-A and the pollution preservatives known as parabens.
Low-priced stores
The concentrations found in the socks of the low-priced store reached a maximum of 3.736 ng of bisphenol-A per gram of sock, which means an average of bisphenol-A slightly more than 25 times higher than that found in the socks of the companies. franchise stores and exclusive brands. Parabens were found in all the socks studied, with a special presence of ethyl-paraben, followed by methyl-paraben, but in average concentrations lower than bisphenol-A and with fewer differences between stores.
As expected due to its high bisphenol-A content and the presence of parabens, two out of ten socks from the low-priced store had estrogenic hormonal activity, and one out of three from the same store had antiandrogenic activity in appropriate biological tests. . That is to say, the extracts of these textile garments behave like the female hormone and antagonize the male hormones. Due to this hormonal activity, bisphenols and parabens are endocrine disruptors and their hormonal activities are related to dysfunctions that lead to disease in both children and adults. The spectrum of diseases associated with exposure to endocrine disruptors is wide and ranges from attention deficits and hyperactivity, genitourinary alterations, premature secondary sexual development and obesity in children to hypothyroidism, infertility, diabetes and hormone-dependent cancers, such as that of breast, in adults.
Researchers have estimated the risk of exposure to infants and children, through the skin, for each of the chemical compounds using complex algorithms. The interpretation is not easy, since there is a great ignorance of how and how much can be absorbed by the skin or how much can be released during washing with the consequent contamination of the water and the rest of the baby's clothes.
However, what most catches the researchers' attention is the potential digestive exposure to these chemical compounds contained in clothing, given the ease with which babies suck on their own feet and socks. For this reason, the research group has added another slogan to its campaign to raise public awareness about exposure to endocrine disruptors, advising parents: "Don't eat your socks!"
Information campaign
The ibs.GRANADA research group aims to inform parents, train health workers to give timely recommendations, warn producers / importers about the quality of their products and sensitize the national and European administration to take letters on the matter, being much more demanding in the regulation of endocrine disruptors in textiles, a field of industrial and commercial activity really neglected.
This work has been coordinated by Nicolás Olea, doctor at the San Cecilio Clinical Hospital, head of the Basic and Clinical Oncology research group at iBS.GRANADA and professor in the Department of Radiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Granada.
The results of this research have just been published in the prestigious journal Environmental International under the title: Concentrations of bisphenol A and parabens in socks for infants and young children and their hormone like activities.
The interdisciplinary group led by Professor Olea, comprised of clinical and basic researchers, continues its search for new sources of human exposure to chemical compounds that alter hormonal balance, supplanting or "hacking" the signals that hormones transmit to different organs and systems and which are known as endocrine disruptors.
A few weeks ago, this same UGR research group denounced exposure to the endocrine disruptor known as bisphenol-A, present in tickets and receipts for thermal paper boxes, of special concern for young women of childbearing age who professionally they handle hundreds of meters of this paper. The media covered the news widely, given the sensitivity to maternal and child exposure issues and the need to be prudent in avoiding risk situations.
Bibliographic reference:
Freire C, Molina-Molina JM, Iribarne-Duran LM, Jiménez-Díaz I, Vela-Soria F, Mutsieles V, Arebola JP, Fernández MF, Artacho-Cordón F and Olea N .: Concentrations of bisphenol A and parabens in socks for infants and young children and their hormone like activities. Environmental International 127: 592-600, 2019.
