Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) were defined as "an exogenous substance or mixture that alters function(s) of the endocrine system and consequently causes adverse health effects". These compounds are mainly eliminated by the renal route. However, patients with end-stage kidney disease treated by dialysis (ESKDD) can no longer eliminate these EDCs efficiently. Furthermore, EDCs exposure could occur via leaching from medical devices used in dialysis therapy. As a result, ESKDD patients are overexposed to EDCs. The aims of this study were to summarize EDCs exposure of ESKDD patients and to evaluate the factors at the origin of this exposure. To handle these objectives, we performed a literature review. An electronic search on PubMed, Embase and Web of science databases was performed. Twenty-six studies were finally included. The EDCs reported in these studies were Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol S (BPS), Bisphenol B (BPB), Nonylphenol, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and Butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP). Regarding the environment of dialysis patients, BPA, BPB, BPS, DEHP, DBP and nonylphenol have been found. Environmental exposure affects EDCs blood levels in ESKDD patients who are overexposed to BPA, BPS, BPB and DEHP. For ESKDD patients, dialyzers with housing in polycarbonate and fibers in polysulfone seem to overexpose them to BPA. Regarding dialysis therapy, peritoneal dialysis seems to decrease patient exposure vs hemodialysis therapy, and hemodiafiltration therapy seems to reduce this exposure vs hemodialysis therapy. Regarding DEHP, levels tend to increase during dialysis and when DEHP plasticizer is used in PVC devices. Finally, in the European Union a regulation on medical devices was adopted on 5 April 2017 and has been applied recently. This regulation will regulate EDCs in medical devices and thereby contribute to reconsideration of their conceptions and, finally, to reduction of ESKDD patients' exposure.

The health safety conditions governing the practice of online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) do not yet incorporate the risks related to the presence of endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA). The aim of this study was to assess, for the first time, the exposure to BPA but also to its chlorinated derivatives (ClxBPA) (100 times more estrogenic than BPA) during OL-HDF. We demonstrated that BPA is transmitted by the different medical devices used in OL-HDF: ultrafilters, dialysis concentrate cartridges (and not only dialyzers, as previously described). Moreover, BPA has been found in dialysis water as well as in ultrapure dialysate and replacement fluid due to contamination of water coming from municipal network. Indeed, due to contaminations provided by both ultrafilters and water, high levels of BPA were determined in the infused replacement fluid (1033 ng.L⁻¹) from the beginning of the session. Thus, our results demonstrate that dialysis water must be considered as an important exposure source to endocrine disruptors, especially since other micropollutants such as ClxBPA have also been detected in dialysis fluids. While assessment of the impact of this exposure remains to be done, these new findings should be taken into account to assess exposure risks in end-stage renal disease patients.

Environmental health promotion interventions may reduce endocrine disruptor (ED) exposure. The PREVED (PREgnancy, preVention, Endocrine Disruptors) project was developed to improve knowledge, to enhance risk perception, and to change exposure behavior. Our objective was to present the phases of the PREVED project using the RE-AIM method. PREVED intervention consisted of three workshops during pregnancy. Reach, adoption, and implementation phases were assessed with qualitative studies. Efficacy study consisted of a three-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) on 268 pregnant women: (i) control group (leaflet), (ii) intervention group in neutral location, (iii) intervention group in contextualized location. The main outcome was the percentage evolution of participants who reported consuming canned food. Secondary outcomes were evolution of psycho-social scores, evolution of ED presence in urine, and ED presence in colostrum. The intervention adoption was centered on upper-privileged women, but implementation assessment showed that key features (highly practical intervention) seemed to be carried out and had initiated some behavior changes. A total of 268 pregnant women participated in the intervention and 230 in a randomized controlled trial (control group: 86 and intervention groups: 172). We found no significant differences in consumption of canned food and in percentage of women having a decrease of bisphenol A or parabens in urine, but we found a significant increase in the evolution of risk perception score and overall psychosocial score in intervention groups (respectively: +15.73 control versus +21.03 intervention, p = 0.003 and +12.39 versus +16.20, p = 0.02). We found a significant difference in percentage of women with butylparaben detection between control group and intervention groups (13% versus 3%, p = 0.03). PREVED intervention is the first intervention research dedicated to perinatal environmental health education in France. By sharing know-how/experience in a positive non-alarmist approach, it improved risk perception, which is key to behavior change, aiming to reduce perinatal ED exposure. Including women in precarious situations remains a major issue.

Background: The suspected or actual effects on health of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) and their ubiquitous presence in everyday life justify the implementation of health promotion interventions. These interventions should ideally be applied during critical windows like pregnancy. Perinatal environmental health education interventions may help to reduce EDC exposure during pregnancy. Methods/design: PREVED (Pregnancy, PreVention, Endocrine Disruptors) is an open-label randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of environmental health education intervention on EDC exposure during pregnancy. Inclusion, consent, and randomization take place during the first trimester. The participants are randomly allocated into three groups: (i) control group (information leaflet on EDCs), (ii) intervention group in neutral location (information leaflet and workshops in a meeting room), and (iii) intervention group in contextualized location (information leaflet and workshops in a real apartment). Workshops are organized between the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Main outcome is the percentage of participants who reported consuming manufactured/industrial food. Secondary outcomes are as follows: (i) psycho-social dimensions, (ii) EDC concentrations in urine, (iii) EDC concentration in colostrum, and (iv) percentage of participants who reported consuming paraben-free personal care products. Discussion: PREVED is a ground-breaking intervention research project dedicated to perinatal environmental health education that aims to identify pollutant sources in daily life and to offer accessible and realistic alternative solutions, by promoting the sharing of know-how and experience in a positive and non-alarmist approach. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03233984 (current status: ongoing). Retrospectively registered on 31 July 2017 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03233984) because when the first participant was enrolled in this non-drug intervention, ClinicalTrials.gov was centered in therapeutic trials. The World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set is in Additional file 1.