Comment on “Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Male Reproductive Function in Young Adulthood: Combined Exposure to Seven PFAS”

Prenatal and Early Postnatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): What Is the Correlation between Dioxins and Long-Chain Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS)?

“…The data demonstrate a moderate correlation of dioxin I-TEq and the four PFAS in maternal blood drawn 11 months after delivery. Compared to the corresponding analysis in the children, 6 the correlation coefficients in the mothers were lower, as the data field in children had a much wider range. This is attributed to formula-feeding on the one side vs. long duration of breastfeeding on the other side (resulting in lower vs. higher PFOA/dioxin levels, respectively, compared to those of the mothers 7 ) In the response of Hærvig et al., 8 the authors argued against a relevant correlation in the mothers, pointing to data of PCB153 and PFOS from Poland and Ukraine 9 with low correlation coefficients of 0.20 and 0.23, respectively.…”

“…With respect to the latter study, the question of the correlation of dioxins and PFAS was raised in a comment, 6 showing data of dioxin international toxicity equivalents (I-TEq) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in 11-month-old children predominantly breastfed for at least 4 months, 7 with a Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient of . In their response, 8 the authors argued that they expect low correlations of dioxins and PFAS with respect to prenatal exposure (i.e., concentrations in the mothers).…”

“…In their response, 8 the authors argued that they expect low correlations of dioxins and PFAS with respect to prenatal exposure (i.e., concentrations in the mothers). Data on the correlations are available from our study, 7 not only for the children, 6 but also for the mothers, the latter of which are presented in this article.…”

Response to “Comment on ‘Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Male Reproductive Function in Young Adulthood: Combined Exposure to Seven PFAS’”

“…In his letter to the editor regarding our paper, 1 Abraham raises an important discussion about co-exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other persistent organic pollutants, in particular dioxins. 2 In our paper we acknowledged that “there might be factors, such as other chemicals or lifestyle, that might be associated with PFAS exposure which also have an impact on reproductive function.” 1 Dioxins potentially constitute such co-exposure, and, if associated with semen quality, the observed inverse associations between PFAS and semen quality could be at least partly due to dioxins.…”

“…Abraham states that he found dioxins significantly correlated with PFAS in blood sampled from 74 mothers 11 months after giving birth in the late 1990s. 2 We have not identified other studies reporting correlations between PFAS and dioxins, but correlations between perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB-153)—a chemical with kinetic properties similar to dioxins, for example, long half-life and accumulation in adipose tissue—were 0.62 in blood of 1,250 Greenlandic, Polish, and Ukrainian pregnant females sampled in 2002–2004. 3 Stratification by country generally revealed that correlations were strongest for the Greenlandic sample: 0.52 for PFOS and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-153 vs. 0.20 for Poland and 0.23 for Ukraine.…”