Nontargeted Urinary Profiling Strategy for Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Women with Ovarian Malignancies

Endocrine-disrupting
chemicals (EDCs), including known and unknown
parent compounds, their metabolites, and transformation products,
are pervasive in daily life, posing increasing risks to human health
and the environment. This study employed a high-resolution mass spectrometry-based
nontargeted screening approach, integrating polar (HILIC) and reversed-phase
separations to expand the chemical space coverage and, supported by
open-science tools and resources, evaluated urinary chemical profiles
to assess internal EDC exposure. Among 106 annotated biomarkers of
exposure, six exhibited significantly higher normalized intensities
in patients with ovarian malignancies compared to healthy controls
(p < 0.05). This suggests their greater exposure
to phthalates (diethylhexyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate), pesticides
(metolachlor metabolite and 4-nitrophenol), a UV filter (benzophenone-1),
and an industrial byproduct (4-methyl-2-nitrophenol). These compounds
may interfere with hormonal regulation, potentially contributing to
cancer development. While these findings highlight potential differences
in internal EDC exposure, the study primarily demonstrates the applicability
of nontargeted urinary profiling for chemical exposure assessment.
By providing new insights into EDCs burden and its pathological implications,
this work contributes to advancing next-generation chemical risk assessment
within the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals
initiative and supports the development of preventive strategies to
mitigate environmental cancer risks.