Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Birth Outcomes; An Updated Analysis from the Danish National Birth Cohort

Qi Meng, Kosuke Inoue, Beate Ritz, Jørn Olsen and Zeyan Liew
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Qi Meng: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Kosuke Inoue: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Beate Ritz: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Jørn Olsen: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, N 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Zeyan Liew: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread industrial pollutants that are extremely persistent in the environment. A previous study in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) found prenatal perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) exposure was associated with decreased birth weight, but had insufficient statistical power to evaluate adverse birth outcomes. Here, we conducted additional analyses in three samples originating from the DNBC for 3535 mothers and infant pairs to evaluate associations between prenatal PFASs exposures and low birth weight and preterm birth. Maternal plasma concentrations were measured for six types of PFASs in early pregnancy. Several PFASs were associated with a reduction in birth weight and gestational age. We estimated a nearly 2-fold increase in risks of preterm birth for the higher quartiles of PFOA and perflourooctanesulfonate (PFOS) exposure. In spline models, risk of preterm birth was increased for perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluoroheptane sulfonate (PFHpS) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) in higher exposure ranges. We also observed some elevated risks for low birth weight but these estimates were less precise. Our findings strengthen the evidence that in-utero PFASs exposures affect fetal growth. Future studies are needed to evaluate whether these associations persist with the decline of PFOA and PFOS in populations and should also investigate newer types of fluorinated compounds introduced more recently.

Keywords: Danish National Birth Cohort; perfluoroalkyl substances; endocrine disrupters; pregnancy; fetal growth; birth outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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