July 20, 2024 | A recent article from the Environmental Health Perspectives reports on a pivotal study about gestational exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may be linked to adiposity and an increased risk of obesity among children and adolescents, though epidemiological studies on this topic have yielded inconsistent results. This study aimed to estimate the associations between PFAS concentrations during pregnancy and child body mass index (BMI) z-scores and the risk of overweight/obesity in eight U.S. cohorts. Utilizing data from 1,391 mother-child pairs enrolled in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohorts between 1999 and 2019, researchers quantified concentrations of seven PFAS in maternal plasma or serum during pregnancy. Child weight and height were measured between ages 2 and 5, with BMI z-scores calculated accordingly; 19.6% of children had more than one BMI measurement. Covariate-adjusted associations of individual PFAS and their mixtures with child BMI z-scores and overweight/obesity risk were estimated using linear mixed models, modified Poisson regression models, and Bayesian approaches for mixtures, while also exploring the potential modifying effect of child sex.
The study found a pattern of subtle positive associations between PFAS concentrations during pregnancy and higher BMI z-scores and increased risk of overweight/obesity. For example, each doubling in perfluorohexane sulfonic acid concentrations was associated with higher BMI z-scores (Ξ²=0.07; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.12). Similarly, each doubling in perfluoroundecanoic acid [relative risk (RR)=1.10; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.16] and N-methyl perfluorooctane sulfonamido acetic acid (RR=1.06; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.12) was associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity, with some evidence of a monotonic dose-response relation. However, associations of the PFAS mixture with BMI or overweight/obesity risk were weaker and more imprecise. Importantly, the associations did not differ by child sex. These findings suggest that gestational exposure to specific PFAS may contribute to higher BMI and obesity risk in early childhood, underscoring the need for further research on the health impacts of PFAS exposure during pregnancy. [EHP Publishing; Associations of Gestational Perfluoroalkyl Substances Exposure with Early Childhood BMI π-Scores and Risk of Overweight/Obesity: Results from the ECHO Cohorts, 2023.]Β
Posted on: August 2nd, 2024
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