Quantification of bisphenols in Korean urine using online solid-phase extraction-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

•Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (ECDs) enter the human body and interfere with the normal functioning of hormones.•The use of alternatives to BPA as an ECD has increased due to growing safety concerns.•Bisphenols were metabolized to glucuronides, and daily exposure levels could be estimated from urine samples. Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting chemical, has been used as a basic raw material for the production of polycarbonate plastics. As concern over the toxic effects of BPA grows, it is gradually being replaced in many consumer products with compounds such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS). In this study, online solid-phase extraction-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to analyze the urinary concentrations of BPA, BPF, and BPS in 2487 Korean urine samples collected between 2017 and 2018. The detection rates and geometric mean (GM) concentrations were as follows: BPA (82.1 %; 0.65 μg/L), BPF (11.1 %; not calculated), and BPS (63.6 %; 0.20 μg/L), respectively. The mean daily intake based on urinary BPA concentrations was 0.013 μg/kg bw/day (95th percentile, 0.089 μg/kg bw/day), which is lower than the tolerable daily intake. This is the first study observing urinary BPA, BPF, and BPS concentrations based on a nationally representative Korean population and could contribute to the evaluation of bisphenol analogue exposure levels in risk assessments.