Anthropometry in 5- to 9-Year-Old Greenlandic and Ukrainian Children in Relation to Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Abstract

BackgroundIn some animal studies, perfluorinated alkyl substances are suggested to induce weight gain. Human epidemiological studies investigating these associations are sparse.ObjectiveWe examined pregnancy serum concentrations of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and the prevalence of offspring overweight (> 1 SD) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) > 0.5 at 5–9 years of age.MethodsSera from 1,022 pregnant women enrolled in the INUENDO cohort (2002–2004) from Greenland and Kharkiv (Ukraine) were analyzed for PFOA and PFOS using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Relative risks (RR) of being overweight and having WHtR > 0.5 in relation to continuous and categorized (tertiles) PFOA and PFOS were calculated at follow-up (2010–2012) using generalized linear models.ResultsPooled PFOA median (range) was 1.3 (0.2–5.1) and PFOS median (range) was 10.8 (0.8–73.0) ng/mL. For each natural logarithm-unit (ln-unit) increase of pregnancy PFOA, the adjusted RR of offspring overweight was 1.11 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82, 1.53] in Greenlandic children. In Ukrainian children, the adjusted RR of offspring overweight was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.72, 1.44) for each ln-unit increase of pregnancy PFOA. Prenatal exposure to PFOS was not associated with overweight in country-specific or pooled analysis. The adjusted RR of having WHtR > 0.5 for each ln-unit increase of prenatal exposure to PFOA was 1.30 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.74) in the pooled analysis. For 1–ln-unit increase of prenatal exposure to PFOS, the adjusted RR of having a WHtR > 0.5 was 1.38 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.82) in the pooled analysis.ConclusionsThe results indicate that prenatal PFOA and PFOS exposures may be associated with child waist-to-height ratio > 0.5. Prenatal PFOA and PFOS exposures were not associated with overweight.CitationHøyer BB, Ramlau-Hansen CH, Vrijheid M, Valvi D, Pedersen HS, Zviezdai V, Jönsson BA, Lindh CH, Bonde JP, Toft G. 2015. Anthropometry in 5- to 9-year-old Greenlandic and Ukrainian children in relation to prenatal exposure to perfluorinated alkyl substances. Environ Health Perspect 123:841–846; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408881

Early-life exposures to persistent organic pollutants in relation to overweight in preschool children

“…In our study, this association did not persist at age 5, which is in agreement with the findings of three previous studies that did not observe significant associations with child BMI and/or overweight risk at mid- and late- childhood (33, 36, 38). Further, two of these studies found no clear association between prenatal exposure to PFOA and childhood overweight (33, 38), while the other study showed a positive association between PFOA and the child’s BMI (36), in agreement with the positive association with overweight risk at age 5 years reported in the present study. Although the moderate to high correlations shown between PFOS and PFOA in this and other studies do not allow us to identify their relative contributions to the associations, the findings of this study may suggest that PFOS associations with obesity primarily appear in early childhood, while PFOA associations become apparent at later ages.…”

“…Very few of the previous studies also accounted for OC exposures measured postnatally (23, 29). The associations of PFAS exposures with weight gain are supported by experimental studies (30, 31), but epidemiologic studies have only recently evaluated this hypothesis, with inconsistent findings (19, 32–38). …”

“…Prenatal exposure to PFOS has been associated with higher weight-for-age in 20-month-old girls (35), with lower BMI z-scores in 12-month-old boys (37), and elevated waist-to-height ratio in children aged 5–9 years (38), while two other studies reported no association with BMI and/or overweight in mid-childhood (33, 36). Prenatal exposure to PFOA has been positively associated with child’s BMI gain and body fat (36), and with higher risk of obesity in Danish women at 20 years of age (32), whereas one other study, with exposure estimates based on residential history and proximity to chemical plants, found no association with obesity risk in adulthood (34).…”

Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Body Fatness in Girls

“…In the pooled analysis, continuous PFOS concentration was positively associated with offspring waist-to-height ratio (RR=1.38; CI=1.05-1.82); however, in gender-stratified analyses results were statistically significant only for girls (RR=1.54; CI=1.06-2.23) and not boys (RR=1.24; CI=0.82-1.87). There were no statistically significant findings for the association of tertiles of maternal PFCs with youth waist-to-height ratios (31). Lastly, in the Cincinnati-based HOME Study, Braun and colleagues (32) evaluated associations of prenatal PFC concentrations (PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and PFNA) with BMI, waist circumference, and percent body fat (measured by a Tanita body fat monitor) among a modestly sized sample of 8-year old children of both genders (n=204).…”

“…The investigators reported adjusted relative risk (RR (95% CI)) of offspring overweight (defined as >85 percentile for age and sex) and unfavorable offspring waist-to-height ratio (>0.5) for continuous (natural log transformed) and tertiles of PFCs between ages 5-9 years. In country-specific and in pooled analyses, neither PFOA nor PFOS was significantly associated with offspring risk of overweight (31). In the pooled analysis, continuous PFOS concentration was positively associated with offspring waist-to-height ratio (RR=1.38; CI=1.05-1.82); however, in gender-stratified analyses results were statistically significant only for girls (RR=1.54; CI=1.06-2.23) and not boys (RR=1.24; CI=0.82-1.87).…”