Early-Life Exposure to Organic Chemical Pollutants as Assessed in Primary Teeth and Cardiometabolic Risk in Mexican American Children: A Pilot Study

Vidya S. Farook, Feroz Akhtar (), Rector Arya, Alice Yau, Srinivas Mummidi, Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga, Alvaro Diaz-Badillo, Roy Resendez, Sharon P. Fowler, Hemant Kulkarni, Vijay Golla, Mahua Choudhury, Jane L. Lynch, Donna M. Lehman, Daniel E. Hale, Ralph A. DeFronzo, John Blangero, David E. Camann, Ravindranath Duggirala and Suman N. Challa
Additional contact information
Vidya S. Farook: Division of Human Genetics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
Feroz Akhtar: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Rector Arya: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Alice Yau: Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
Srinivas Mummidi: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga: Division of Population Health and Biostatistics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen, TX 78550, USA
Alvaro Diaz-Badillo: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Roy Resendez: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Sharon P. Fowler: Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
Hemant Kulkarni: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Vijay Golla: School of Public Health-San Antonio Campus, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Mahua Choudhury: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Jane L. Lynch: Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
Donna M. Lehman: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Daniel E. Hale: Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Penn State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Ralph A. DeFronzo: Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA
John Blangero: Division of Human Genetics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
David E. Camann: Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
Ravindranath Duggirala: Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
Suman N. Challa: Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: Early-life exposure to organic chemicals (OCs) may influence childhood obesity and associated cardiometabolic risk. These conditions have been shown to disproportionately affect minority populations such as Mexican Americans (MAs). However, information on the impact of organic chemicals on cardiometabolic risk in MA children is limited. Therefore, we conducted a pilot study to assess the extent to which exposure to organic chemicals influences cardiometabolic traits (CMTs) in MA children. We recalled 25 children from a previous study and collected 25 primary teeth from them. Chemical analyses of the teeth were performed using established protocols. Target analytes included acetaminophen (APAP); 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy), 2-isopropyl-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol (IMPy), diethyl phosphate (DEP), N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET), tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP). The organic chemicals most frequently detected in the teeth were APAP; the insect repellent DEET; plasticizers MnBP and MiBP; and the plasticizer-derived metabolite MEHP. These five analytes were included in association analyses with selected CMTs. After adjusting for covariate (age, sex, tooth-type) effects, we found significant ( p < 0.05) positive correlations between MiBP and the following CMTs: fat mass, fasting insulin, and the homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Both MnBP and MEHP exhibited negative correlation with blood pressure measures and triglycerides, respectively. In addition, APAP showed a strong negative correlation with HDL-C ( p = 0.009) and positive association with triglycerides ( p < 0.10). These findings suggest a potential role for early-life exposures to organic chemicals in influencing cardiometabolic risk in MA children.

Keywords: phthalate; acetaminophen; childhood obesity; diabetes; cardiometabolic risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1494/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1494/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1494-:d:1759768

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().