Urine Collection Methods for Non-Toilet-Trained Children in Biological Monitoring Studies: Validation of a Disposable Diaper for Characterization of Tebuconazole Exposure

摘要

Young children differ from adults in their exposure and susceptibility to environmental chemicals (e.g. pesticides) because of various factors such as behavior, diet and physiology. Furthermore, children of 0-3 yr. old are rarely included in biomonitoring studies and thus the information on the exposure of chemical compounds of this group is very limited. Their heightened vulnerability to environmental stressors makes it important to obtain appropriate urine samples for exposure characterization. However, collecting urine from non-toilet-trained children has been shown to be methodologically and practically challenging. The aim of this study was to examine and evaluate different urine collection methods for non-toilet-trained children that could be applied in a non-clinical setting. Four urine collection approaches were tested, including a disposable diaper, a urine bag, a collection pad containing a hydroscopic polymer, and the clean catch. The success rate, defined as the percentage of total attempts which were suitable for urine analysis, and the user rating on a 0-10 scale (0=inconvenient, 10=convenient) of each method were evaluated. The success rates were 67%, 21%, 17% and 4% for the disposable diaper, urine bag, collection pad and clean catch, respectively. The average user ratings on a 0-10 scale were 9.0, 4.7, 7.3 and 2.5, respectively. Subsequently, the best rated method, the disposable polyacrylate diaper was tested with hydroxy-tebuconazole as an exposure biomarker for the fungicide tebuconazole and creatinine for urine density adjustment. Recoveries were on average 107% for hydroxy-tebuconazole and 87% for creatinine. Precisions for both analytes were between 3% and 10%. Based on this study, we consider the disposable diaper as a suitable method for urine collection of non-toilet-trained children for biomonitoring of tebuconazole. This study can serve as a basis to extent this method other substances of interest.