Lysmeral Exposure in Children and Adolescences Participating in the German Environmental Survey (2012–2015): Integrating Sex/Gender into Analysis

Sophie Ch. Fichter, Katrin Groth, Nina Fiedler, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Małgorzata Dębiak () and on behalf of the INGER Study Group
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Sophie Ch. Fichter: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Katrin Groth: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Nina Fiedler: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Marike Kolossa-Gehring: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
Małgorzata Dębiak: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
on behalf of the INGER Study Group: German Environment Agency (UBA), 06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Comprehensive consideration of the biological and social diversities of sex and gender as well as their interdependencies is mostly missing in human biomonitoring (HBM) studies. Using the INGER sex/gender concept as theoretical background, we analyzed differences in exposure to lysmeral, a compound commonly found as a fragrance in cosmetics, personal care, and household products, in 2294 children and adolescents in Germany using decision tree, regression, and mediation analysis. The variables “sex assigned at birth” and “age”, as well as well as use of personal care products and fabric conditioner proved to have the highest explanatory value. Mediating effects of behaviour associated with societal gender expectations were observed, as the use of cosmetics correlated highly with lysmeral metabolites concentrations in girls between 6 and 17 years, with the strongest effect in adolescents between 14 and 17 years old. In the youngest age group (3–5 years) boys showed higher concentration of the metabolite tert-butylbenzoic acid (TBBA) compared to girls of the same age but only if TBBA urine concentrations were normalized on creatinine. Our study offers the first retrospective sex/gender assessment of HBM data. It demonstrates the possibilities to rethink and broaden sex/gender analysis in existing HBM-studies and highlights the need for inclusion of new sex/gender concepts in the design of new studies.

Keywords: lysmeral; butylphenyl methylpropional; lily aldehyde; lilial; human biomonitoring; sex; gender; sex/gender; GerES (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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