Bakhtyar Tartibian, Tahora Rafiee, Noushin Azadpour, Rasoul Eslami
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as bisphenol A (BPA) and triclosan (TCS) are ubiquitous, yet it remains unclear whether acute physiological stressors can transiently modify their urinary profiles. We conducted a randomized, parallel-group pilot laboratory study in overweight postmenopausal women (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2) assigned to graded aerobic exercise (22-minute Modified Naughton treadmill protocol) or a non-exercise control condition. Fasting morning urine was collected 24 h before and 24 h after the intervention. Urinary free BPA and TCS concentrations were quantified by LC-MS/MS. Within-group changes were assessed using paired t tests, and between-group post-intervention differences were assessed using ANCOVA with baseline values entered as covariates. Twenty participants completed the protocol (n = 10 per group). In the exercise group, urinary BPA increased from 1.27 ± 0.39 to 1.38 ± 0.44 µg/L (p = 0.037) and TCS increased from 1.52 ± 0.98 to 1.89 ± 1.13 µg/L (p = 0.046), whereas no significant pre-post changes were observed in controls. However, baseline-adjusted ANCOVA showed no significant between-group differences for BPA (p = 0.157) or TCS (p = 0.345). These pilot findings should therefore be interpreted cautiously and do not demonstrate a statistically significant intervention effect. Larger studies with repeated sampling and urine dilution assessment are warranted.