Although previous studies investigated the potential adverse effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on biological age acceleration and aging-related diseases, the mixed effect of multiple types of EDCs on biological age acceleration, including its potential underlying mechanism, remains unclear. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to analyze biological age measures, including Klemera-Doubal method biological age (KDM-BA), phenotypic age, and homeostatic dysregulation (HD). Weight quantile sum (WQS) regression was performed to screen biological age-related EDCs (BA-EDCs) and assess the mixed effect of BA-EDCs on biological age acceleration and aging-related disease. Targets of BA-EDCs were obtained from three databases, while heart aging-related genes were obtained from the Aging Anno database. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and MCODE algorithm were applied to identify potential interactions between BA-EDC targets and heart aging-related genes. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were performed to identify related pathways. This cross-sectional study included 1,439 participants. A decile increase in BA-EDCs co-exposure was associated with 0.31 years and 0.17 years of KDM-BA and phenotypic age acceleration, respectively. The mixed effect of BA-EDCs was associated with an increased prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Vitamins C and E demonstrated a significant interaction effect on the association between BA-EDCs and KDM-BA acceleration. PPI network and functional enrichment analysis indicated that the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications was significantly enriched. Our results showed that the co-exposure effect of BA-EDCs was associated with biological age acceleration and ASCVD, with the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway being the underlying mechanism. Vitamins C and E may also be an actionable target for preventing EDC-induced biological aging.

Aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated compounds containing carbon and hydrogen that form single aromatic ring, or double, triple, or multiple fused rings. This review focuses on the research progress of aromatic hydrocarbons represented by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), benzene and its derivatives including toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (o-, m- and p-), styrene, nitrobenzene, and aniline. Due to the toxicity, widespread coexistence, and persistence of aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment, accurate assessment of exposure to aromatic hydrocarbons is essential to protect human health. The effects of aromatic hydrocarbons on human health are mainly derived from three aspects: different routes of exposure, the duration and relative toxicity of aromatic hydrocarbons, and the concentration of aromatic hydrocarbons which should be below the biological exposure limit. Therefore, this review discusses the primary exposure routes, toxic effects on humans, and key populations, in particular. This review briefly summarizes the different biomarker indicators of main aromatic hydrocarbons in urine, since most aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites are excreted via urine, which is more feasible, convenient, and non-invasive. In this review, the pretreatment and analytical techniques are compiled systematically for the qualitative and quantitative assessments of aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites such as gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography with multiple detectors. This review aims to identify and monitor the co-exposure of aromatic hydrocarbons that provides a basis for the formulation of corresponding health risk control measures and guide the adjustment of the exposure dose of pollutants to the population.

A fast, simple and environmentally friendly method to determine nicotine and cotinine in urine has been developed using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet (DLLME-SFO) with a binary mixed extractant as the pretreatment method and high performance liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UVD) as the analysis system. The nicotine and cotinine in urine samples were extracted using the binary mixed solvent of undecanol and CHCl₃ (v/v = 1 : 1) during the DLLME-SFO procedure. The employment of the mixed solvent had significantly improved the extraction efficiency of cotinine. Several crucial experiment parameters were evaluated, including the type and volume of extract solvent, type of dispersive solvent, pH of the aqueous phase, concentration of sodium chloride in the urine samples and extraction time. Under the optimal conditions, good linearity was observed in the range of 0.01–5.00 μg mL⁻¹ for nicotine and cotinine with correlation coefficients of 0.9993 and 0.9996 respectively, and the method detection limit (MLD) was 0.002 μg mL⁻¹ for both analytes. The proposed method was applied to urine sample analysis and the spiked recoveries of nicotine and cotinine were in the range of 78.0–105.0% and 72.0–86.7% respectively, with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) in the range of 6.02–7.28% and 2.94–8.43% respectively.

A method of binary mixed solvent-based solvent demulsification dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water samples. A binary mixed solvent of methylene chloride and n-hexane (v/v = 1 : 1) which has a lower density than water was used as the extraction solvent, obtaining satisfactory extraction efficiencies for PAHs, and also allowing convenient operation. Acetonitrile as the dispersive solvent was injected into the water sample solution to form an emulsion. The extraction can be completed in 5 min and ethanol was used as the demulsification solvent to bring about successful phase separation without centrifugation. Coupled with GC-MS/MS analysis, the method was simple, sensitive, accurate and suitable for batch analysis of PAHs in water samples. Good linearity was obtained within the linear range for 16 PAH compounds, with determination coefficients from 0.9980 to 0.9998. This method can be used to effectively evaluate the situation of PAH pollution in water intended for human consumption and environmental water, the method detection limits (MDLs) of which were 2.1 to 13.6 ng L⁻¹ and only 20 mL of water samples were used for analysis. The proposed method was applied to determine PAHs in actual water samples including tap water, and the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Jinjiang river in Chengdu city. Meanwhile, spiked samples and procedural blanks were used for quality control measurements according to ISO/TS 13530-2009 to guarantee the accuracy of this method. The average spiked recoveries of PAHs were in the range of 85.0–104% with RSDs in the range of 5.8–10.9%. Naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene were predominantly measured, and PAH pollution was found at the total concentrations of 0.162–0.206 μg L⁻¹ in the Jinjiang river of Chengdu city of P. R. China. Considering their toxicity, attention should be paid to water pollution by PAHs and necessary monitoring should be done.