Dataset Information

Perfluoroalkyl substances and lipid concentrations in plasma during pregnancy among women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread and persistent environmental pollutants. Previous studies, primarily among non-pregnant individuals, suggest positive associations between PFAS levels and certain blood lipids. If there is a causal link between PFAS concentrations and elevated lipids during pregnancy, this may suggest a mechanism by which PFAS exposure leads to certain adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preeclampsia.

Methods

This cross-sectional analysis included 891 pregnant women enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child (MoBa) Cohort Study in 2003-2004. Non-fasting plasma samples were obtained at mid-pregnancy and analyzed for nineteen PFASs. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured in plasma. Linear regression was used to quantify associations between each PFAS exposure and each lipid outcome. A multiple PFAS model was also fitted.

Results

Seven PFASs were quantifiable in >50% of samples. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentration was associated with total cholesterol, which increased 4.2mg/dL per inter-quartile shift (95% CI=0.8, 7.7) in adjusted models. Five of the seven PFASs studied were positively associated with HDL cholesterol, and all seven had elevated HDL associated with the highest quartile of exposure. Perfluoroundecanoic acid showed the strongest association with HDL: HDL increased 3.7 mg/dL per inter-quartile shift (95% CI=2.5, 4.9).

Conclusion

Plasma concentrations of PFASs were positively associated with HDL cholesterol, and PFOS was positively associated with total cholesterol in this sample of pregnant Norwegian women. While elevated HDL is not an adverse outcome per se, elevated total cholesterol associated with PFASs during pregnancy could be of concern if causal.

SUBMITTER: Starling AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3870471 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Perfluoroalkyl substances and lipid concentrations in plasma during pregnancy among women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Starling Anne P AP Engel Stephanie M SM Whitworth Kristina W KW Richardson David B DB Stuebe Alison M AM Daniels Julie L JL Haug Line Småstuen LS Eggesbø Merete M Becher Georg G Sabaredzovic Azemira A Thomsen Cathrine C Wilson Ralph E RE Travlos Gregory S GS Hoppin Jane A JA Baird Donna D DD Longnecker Matthew P MP

Environment international 20131102

<h4>Background</h4>Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread and persistent environmental pollutants. Previous studies, primarily among non-pregnant individuals, suggest positive associations between PFAS levels and certain blood lipids. If there is a causal link between PFAS concentrations and elevated lipids during pregnancy, this may suggest a mechanism by which PFAS exposure leads to certain adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preeclampsia.<h4>Methods</h4>This cross-sectional analys ...[more]

PMID: 24189199

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread pollutants that have been associated with adverse health effects although not on a consistent basis. Diet has been considered the main source of exposure. The aim of the present study was to identify determinants of four plasma PFASs in pregnant Norwegian women. METHODS:This study is based in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Our sample included 487 women who enrolled in MoBa from 2003 to 2004. A questionnaire regarding sociodemographic, medical, and reproductive history was completed at 17 weeks of gestation and a dietary questionnaire was completed at 22 weeks of gestation. Maternal plasma samples were obtained around 17 weeks of gestation. Plasma concentrations of four PFASs (perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA)) were examined in relation to demographic, lifestyle, dietary, and pregnancy-related covariates. Predictors were identified by optimizing multiple linear regression models using Akaike's information criterion (AIC). RESULTS:Parity was the determinant with the largest influence on plasma PFAS concentrations, with r(2) between 0.09 and 0.32 in simple regression models. In optimal multivariate models, when compared to nulliparous women, parous women had 46%, 70%, 19%, and 62% lower concentrations of PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA respectively (p<0.001 except for PFHxS, p<0.01). In all these models, duration of breastfeeding was associated with reduced PFAS levels. PFOA showed the largest reduction from breastfeeding, with a 2-3% reduction per month of breastfeeding in typical cases. Levels of PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA increased with time since most recent pregnancy. While pregnancy-related factors were the most important predictors, diet was a significant factor explaining up to 4% of the variance. One quartile increase in estimated dietary PFAS intake was associated with plasma PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA concentration increases of 7.2%, 3.3%, 5.8% and 9.8%, respectively, resulting in small, although non-trivial absolute changes in PFAS concentrations. CONCLUSION:Previous pregnancies and breastfeeding duration were the most important determinants of PFASs in this sample of pregnant women.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are fluorinated organic compounds that have been used in a variety of industrial and consumer applications. Menstruation is implicated as a possible route of elimination for PFASs in women. The overall purpose of this study was to examine menstrual cycle characteristics as determinants of plasma PFAS concentrations in women. METHODS:Our study sample consisted of 1977 pregnant women from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa) study. The women were asked about menstrual cycle regularity in the year before the pregnancy and typical menstrual cycle length as well as other demographic and reproductive characteristics in a questionnaire completed during the pregnancy. Blood samples were collected around 17-18 weeks gestation and PFAS concentrations were measured in plasma. We examined the association between menstrual cycle characteristics and seven PFASs (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluoroheptane sulfonate (PFHpS), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)) using multiple linear regression, adjusted for age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, smoking, education, income, parity, oral contraceptive use, inter-pregnancy interval, and breastfeeding duration. RESULTS:Irregular cycles were not associated with PFAS concentrations. Overall, we found no evidence of associations between menstrual cycle length and PFAS concentrations. In subgroup analyses we found some evidence, among parous women, of decreased PFHpS and PFOS with short menstrual cycles; we also found, among recent OC users (in the 12 months before the questionnaire) increased PFNA and PFUnDA with long cycle length. Limitations of our study include misclassification of menstrual cycle characteristics, small sample sizes in the sub-group analyses, and a lack of information on duration and volume of menses. CONCLUSIONS:In the entire study sample, we found little evidence of menstrual cycle characteristics as determinants of PFAS concentrations. However, we observed some associations between cycle length and PFAS concentrations with some select PFAS compounds in subgroup analyses.

Project description:IntroductionPrenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has been inconsistently associated with asthma and allergic diseases and increased number of infections in early childhood. We examined the association of PFASs measured in pregnancy with childhood asthma, allergies and common infectious diseases in a prospective pregnancy cohort followed to age 7 years.Material and methodsSix PFASs (out of 19 measured) with at least 80% of measurements above the limit of quantification (LOQ) in maternal plasma during pregnancy in two subcohorts of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) were analyzed in relation to health outcomes: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), and perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS). Follow-up questionnaires were completed at 3 years by 1270 women and at 7 years by 972 women among the 1943 with pregnancy questionnaire and PFAS measures. Health outcomes included parent reports of child's symptoms or doctor diagnosed asthma and allergic conditions at age 7 years and parent-reported frequency of various infections at 3 and 7 years of age. Logistic and Poisson regression were used. The false discovery rate was controlled at 5%. Sensitivity analyses on gender were performed.ResultsAmong the allergy and asthma outcomes, a statistically significant inverse association was seen between PFUnDA concentrations and ever having atopic eczema in girls. PFUnDA also tended to be inversely associated with both wheeze and asthma. For infections from 0 to 3 and 6 to 7 years, 11 significant positive associations were seen between PFASs and airways infections (bronchitis/pneumonia, throat infection, pseudocroup), ear infection and gastric flu/diarrhea; whereas 6 inverse associations were seen for pseudocroup, ear infections and urinary tract infections. The majority of the findings with respect to infectious diseases were found in girls only.DiscussionWith the exception of an inverse association between PFUnDA and eczema, and a tendency of a similar association for wheeze and asthma, maternal PFAS levels during pregnancy showed little association with asthma or allergy related outcomes. Findings from the present study suggest immunosuppressive effects of PFASs on airways infections, such as bronchitis/pneumonia and throat infections, as well as diarrhea/gastric flu. Our results indicate a possible role of gender in the PFAS-health outcome associations.

Project description:Emerging evidence suggests that perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are endocrine disruptors and may contribute to the etiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but this hypothesis needs to be clarified in prospective human studies.Our objective was to examine the associations between PFAS exposures and subsequent incidence of T2D in the Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII). In addition, we aimed to evaluate potential demographic and lifestyle determinants of plasma PFAS concentrations.A prospective nested case-control study of T2D was conducted among participants who were free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in 1995-2000 [(mean±SD): 45.3±4.4 y) of age]. We identified and ascertained 793 incident T2D cases through 2011 (mean±SD) years of follow-up: 6.7±3.7 y). Each case was individually matched to a control (on age, month and fasting status at sample collection, and menopausal status and hormone replacement therapy). Plasma concentrations of five major PFASs, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanesulfonate, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorodecanoic acid were measured. Odds ratios (ORs) of T2D by PFAS tertiles were estimated by conditional logistic regression.Shorter breastfeeding duration and higher intake of certain foods, such as seafood and popcorn, were significantly associated with higher plasma concentrations of PFASs among controls. After multivariate adjustment for T2D risk factors, including body mass index, family history, physical activity, and other covariates, higher plasma concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were associated with an elevated risk of T2D. Comparing extreme tertiles of PFOS or PFOA, ORs were 1.62 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.41; ptrend=0.02) and 1.54 (95% CI: 1.04, 2.28; ptrend=0.03), respectively. Other PFASs were not clearly associated with T2D risk.Background exposures to PFASs in the late 1990s were associated with higher T2D risk during the following years in a prospective case-control study of women from the NHSII. These findings support a potential diabetogenic effect of PFAS exposures. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2619.

Project description:BackgroundPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemical substances spread throughout the environment worldwide. Exposure during pregnancy represents a specific window of vulnerability for child health.ObjectiveOur objective was to assess the impact of prenatal exposure to multiple PFAS on emotional and behavioral functions in 12-y-old children.MethodIn the PELAGIE mother-child cohort (France), prenatal exposure to nine PFAS was measured from concentrations in cord serum samples. Behavior was assessed at age 12 y using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the self-reported Dominic Interactive for Adolescents (DIA) for 444 children. Associations were estimated using negative binomial models for each PFAS. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were performed to assess the exposure mixture effect on children's behavior.ResultsIn our study population, 73% of mothers had spent more than 12 y in education. Higher scores on SDQ externalizing subscale were observed with increasing cord-serum concentration of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) [adjusted mean ratio (aMR)=1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03, 1.34, and aMR=1.14 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.29) for every doubling of concentration, respectively]. Results for the hyperactivity score were similar [aMR=1.20 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.40) and aMR=1.18 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.36), respectively]. With regard to major depressive disorder and internalizing subscales, perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) was associated with higher self-reported DIA scores [aMR=1.14 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.27) and aMR=1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.21), respectively]. In terms of the anxiety subscale, PFDA and PFNA were associated with higher scores [aMR=1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.21) and aMR=1.10 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.19), respectively]. Concurrent increases in the PFAS concentrations included in the BKMR models showed no change in the SDQ externalizing and DIA internalizing subscales scores.ConclusionPrenatal exposure to PFNA and PFOA were associated with increasing scores for measures of externalizing behaviors, specifically hyperactivity. We also identified associations between PFNA and PFDA prenatal exposure levels and increasing scores related to internalizing behaviors (general anxiety and major depressive disorder), which adds to the as yet sparse literature examining the links between prenatal exposure to PFAS and internalizing disorders. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12540.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Evidence on the association between exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and blood glucose concentrations in pregnant women is inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the association between PFAS exposure and the concentrations of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and one-hour plasma glucose (1 h-PG) after a 50-g oral glucose tolerance test in pregnant women. METHODS:The study was based on the Shanghai-Minhang Birth Cohort, in which 1292 pregnant women were recruited. Among them, 981 women provided blood samples (at 12-16 gestational weeks) for PFAS measurement. FPG data collected from 856 women at 12-20 GW and 1 h-PG data collected from 705 women at 20-28 GW were obtained through medical records from the routine prenatal care system. High FPG or 1 h-PG was defined as ≥90th percentile of FPG or 1 h-PG. The analysis of eight PFASs was conducted in this study: perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA), and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA). The odds ratios (ORs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to determine the associations of each PFAS compound with high FPG and 1 h-PG from a logistic regression model. RESULTS:After adjustment for potential confounders, most PFASs were positively associated with high 1 h-PG concentrations. The OR for high 1 h-PG concentrations was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.15-3.05) with a one log unit increase of PFOS; similar associations were observed for PFNA (OR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.24-3.74), PFDA (OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.10-2.44), PFUdA (OR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.12-2.62), and PFDoA (OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.00-1.81). When the PFAS concentrations were categorized into three groups by tertiles, the highest tertiles of PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFDoA, and PFTrDA had a statistically significant increase in the risk of high 1 h-PG concentrations compared with the lowest tertiles. No statistically significant association was observed between PFAS exposure and high FPG. CONCLUSION:PFAS exposure was associated with an increased risk of high 1 h-PG among pregnant women, but no such association was observed for FPG.

Project description:BackgroundBetween 2013 and 2015, concentrations of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public drinking water supplies serving at least six million individuals exceeded the level set forth in the health advisory established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Other than data reported for contaminated sites, no systematic or prospective data exist on the relative source contribution (RSC) of drinking water to human PFAS exposures.ObjectivesThis study estimates the RSC of tap water to overall PFAS exposure among members of the general U.S.PopulationMethodsWe measured concentrations of 15 PFAS in home tap water samples collected in 1989-1990 from 225 participants in a nationwide prospective cohort of U.S. women: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS). We used a one-compartment toxicokinetic model to estimate plasma concentrations corresponding to tap water intake of PFAS. We compared modeled results with measured plasma PFAS concentrations among a subset of 110 NHS participants.ResultsTap water perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were statistically significant predictors of plasma concentrations among individuals who consumed [Formula: see text] cups of tap water per day. Modeled median contributions of tap water to measured plasma concentrations were: PFOA 12% (95% probability interval 11%-14%), PFNA 13% (8.7%-21%), linear perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (nPFOS) 2.2% (2.0%-2.5%), branched perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (brPFOS) 3.0% (2.5%-3.2%), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) 34% (29%-39%). In five locations, comparisons of PFASs in community tap water collected in the period 2013-2016 with samples from 1989-1990 indicated increases in quantifiable PFAS and extractable organic fluorine (a proxy for unquantified PFAS).ConclusionsOur results for 1989-1990 compare well with the default RSC of 20% used in risk assessments for legacy PFAS by many agencies. Future evaluation of drinking water exposures should incorporate emerging PFAS. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4093.

Dataset Information

Perfluoroalkyl substances and lipid concentrations in plasma during pregnancy among women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Perfluoroalkyl substances and lipid concentrations in plasma during pregnancy among women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Similar Datasets

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