National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Biomonitoring of environmental phenols is used to determine their prevalence in humans and the relevance of human exposure in public health. The routes of human exposure to these phenolic compounds are industrial pollution, pesticide use, food consumption, or use of personal care products. Specifically, bisphenol A (BPA) is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, which are used in baby bottles, as protective coatings on food containers, and as composites and sealants in dentistry. Phenols are also used as sunscreen agents for skin protection, and as UV filters in cosmetic products and plastics to improve stability (e.g., benzophenone-3 [BP-3]), or used as bactericides (e.g., triclosan) in soap and other personal care products.  Parabens, a group of alkyl (e.g., methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl) esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products; parabens can also be used in pharmaceuticals, and in food and beverage processing.

Examined participants aged 6 years and older from a one-third sample.

A sensitive method for measuring BPA, BP-3, triclosan, and four parabens was developed in 2005 (Ye et al., 2005; Ye et al., 2006). The method uses on-line solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled to HPLC and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). With the use of isotopically labeled internal standards, the detection limits in 100 μL of urine are 0.1 - 2.3 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), sufficient for measuring urinary levels of phenols in non-occupationally exposed subjects.

Refer to NHANES 2011-2012 Lab Methods for Benzophenone-3, Bisphenol A, 2,4-Dichlorophenol, 2,5-Dichlorophenol, Methyl-, Ethyl-, Propyl-, and Butyl Parabens, Triclosan Boratory for detailed description of the laboratory method used.

Urine specimens are processed, stored, and shipped to the Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis.
Detailed specimen collection and processing instructions are discussed in the NHANES Laboratory Procedures Manual (LPM). Vials are stored under appropriate frozen (–20°C) conditions until they are shipped to National Center for Environmental Health for testing.

Mobile Examination Centers (MECs)
Laboratory team performance is monitored using several techniques. NCHS and contract consultants use a structured quality assurance evaluation during unscheduled visits to evaluate both the quality of the laboratory work and the quality-control procedures. Each laboratory staff person is observed for equipment operation, specimen collection and preparation; testing procedures and constructive feedback are given to each staff. Formal retraining sessions are conducted annually to ensure that required skill levels were maintained.
The NHANES QA/QC protocols meet the 1988 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act mandates. Detailed QA/QC instructions are discussed in the NHANES LPM.

Analytical Laboratories
NHANES uses several methods to monitor the quality of the analyses performed by the contract laboratories. In the MEC, these methods include performing blind split samples collected on “dry run” sessions. In addition, contract laboratories randomly perform repeat testing on 2.0% of all specimens.
NCHS developed and distributed a quality control protocol for all the contract laboratories which outlined the Westgard rules (Westgard et al, 1981) used when running NHANES specimens. Progress reports containing any problems encountered during shipping or receipt of specimens, summary statistics for each control pool, QC graphs, instrument calibration, reagents, and any special considerations are submitted to NCHS quarterly. The reports are reviewed for trends or shifts in the data. The laboratories are required to explain any identified areas of concern.
All QC procedures recommended by the manufacturers were followed. Reported results for all assays meet the Division of Laboratory Sciences’ quality control and quality assurance performance criteria for accuracy and precision, similar to the Westgard rules (Westgard et al, 1981).

The data were reviewed. Incomplete data or improbable values were sent to the performing laboratory for confirmation.

Refer to the 2011-2012 Laboratory Data Overview for general information on NHANES laboratory data.

Subsample weights

Urinary environmental phenols and parabens were measured in a one third subsample of persons 6 years and older. Special sample weights are required to analyze these data properly. Specific sample weights for this subsample are included in this data file and should be used when analyzing these data.

Variance estimation

The analysis of NHANES laboratory data must be conducted with the key survey design and basic demographic variables. The NHANES Demographic Data File contains demographic and sample design variables. The recommended procedure for variance estimation requires use of stratum and PSU variables (SDMVSTRA and SDMVPSU, respectively) in the demographic data file.

Links to NHANES Data Files

This laboratory data file can be linked to the other NHANES data files using the unique survey participant identifier SEQN.

Detection Limits

The detection limits were constant for all of the analytes in the data set. Two variables are provided for each of these analytes. The variable named URD___LC indicates whether the result was below the limit of detection. There are two values: “0” and “1." “0” means that the result was at or above the limit of detection. “1” indicates that the result was below the limit of detection. The other variable named URX___ provides the analytic result for that analyte. For analytes with analytic results below the lower limit of detection (i.e., URD___LC=1), an imputed fill value was placed in the analyte results field. This value is the lower limit of detection divided by square root of 2 (LLOD/sqrt(2)).

The lower limit of detection (LLOD, in ug/L)  for the environmental phenols and parabensis: 

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues.