Characterization of Representative Plasticizer Exposure Mixtures in NICU Neonates: A Non-negative Matrix...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Toxicology
• Neonatal Medicine

Background:

• Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) expose vulnerable infants to complex chemical mixtures from medical devices.
• Current biomonitoring often analyzes single chemicals, failing to capture realistic co-exposure patterns relevant for toxicity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize realistic exposure mixtures of plasticizers in neonates hospitalized in NICUs.
• To develop a data-driven framework for assessing mixture toxicity in vulnerable populations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized urinary biomonitoring data from the ARMED-NEO cohort.
• Applied non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to high-dimensional metabolite data.
• Decomposed metabolite profiles into representative exposure mixtures.

Main Results:

• Identified three distinct, clinically plausible exposure mixtures of plasticizer metabolites.
• These mixtures reflect co-occurrence patterns associated with medical device use and care practices.
• Demonstrated that mixture profiles offer a more realistic exposure assessment than single-compound analyses.

Conclusions:

• Developed a pragmatic framework for mixture-oriented toxicological research using interpretable exposure profiles.
• Findings support targeted in vitro bioassays for assessing endocrine-disrupting effects.
• Contributes to improved risk assessment for neonatal exposure to chemical mixtures.