New alternative phthalates have been increasingly substituted for certain phthalates in some consumer products due to safety concerns. However, research on the steroidal effect of exposure to the newer replacement phthalates in the general adult population is lacking. This study aimed to examine the associations of exposure to the older generation and newer replacement phthalates with sex hormone levels in the U.S. general population. The current cross-sectional study was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2016. Sixteen urinary phthalates metabolites and three serum sex hormones were measured in 1768 adults. Gender-specific associations between urinary phthalate concentrations and sex hormones were estimated by using adjusted multiple linear regression. Logistic regression was performed to calculate the risk of phthalates exposure on hormones dysfunction. Most phthalates metabolites concentrations were lower than 50 ng/mL. MEP, MBP, MiBP, MECPP, MCOP, MEHHP, MEOHP were higher than others, suggesting that new alternative DEP, DBP, and DiNP were exposed at high levels in daily life while DINCH was at a low level. Phthalates exposure was associated with decreased testosterone levels and increased estradiol and SHBG in total samples. Testosterone level was negatively associated with MnBP (β: -0.05, 95% CI: -0.09, 0), MEOHP (β:-0.05, 95% CI:-0.09,-0.01), MEHHP (β:-0.04, 95% CI:-0.08,0), MECPP (β:-0.07, 95% CI:-0.11,-0.03), MEP (β: -0.03, 95% CI: -0.06, 0), MiBP (β: -0.05, 95% CI: -0.10, -0.01) in males; ln-transformed estradiol were increased by 0.18 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.05,0.31), 0.15 pg/mL (95% CI: 0.01,0.29) with each 1 ln-concentration increase in MEHP and MNP, respectively, in females. Our results suggest that phthalates exposure may disturb the hormone homeostasis in adults. The safe alternative should be used with caution in industrial production in the future and the need for further research into the safety of the new alternative replacements is necessary.

Bacterial pathogens pose a serious threat to human health, and there is an urgent need to develop highly effective antibacterial materials to eliminate the increasingly serious contamination of drug-resistant bacteria. Here, a Cu-doped ZIF-8 particle with unsaturated copper exhibits high peroxidase-like activity. 99.998% antibacterial efficiency against S. aureus can be achieved for 30 min at a low concentration of 50 µg·mL⁻¹, as well as complete sterilization against E. coli (up to 8 log). 99.999% antibacterial efficiency against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus can be achieved, performing orders of magnitude higher than Vancomycin. The mechanism shows that the unsaturated Cu-N_x sites are enzyme-like active centers, which could promote the consumption of bacteria reducing substances by H₂O₂, and the generated *OH further aggravates bacterial oxidative stress and membrane damage. More importantly, the oxidation activity of adsorbed oxygen species on Cu-ZIF-8 is enhanced by charge transfer and structural changes between the ligand and copper center like natural enzymes. Cu-doped ZIF-8 with peroxidase-like activity shows great potential in antibacterial application and the revealed catalytic mechanism is helpful for understanding the high antibacterial activity of nanoparticles with Cu-N_x sites.