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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and childhood autism-related outcomes
Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)
12 Jan 2023
PMID: 36630444
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Epidemiologic evidence linking prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) with altered neurodevelopment is inconclusive, and few large studies have focused on autism-related outcomes. We investigated whether blood concentrations of PFAS in pregnancy are associated with child autism-related outcomes.
We included ten cohorts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program (n=1429). We measured 14 PFAS analytes in maternal blood collected during pregnancy; eight analytes met detection criteria for analysis. We assessed quantitative autism-related traits in children via parent report on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). In multivariable linear models, we examined relationships of each PFAS (natural log-transformed) with SRS scores. We further modeled PFAS as a complex mixture using Bayesian methods and examined modification of these relationships by child sex.
Most PFAS in maternal blood were not associated with child SRS T-scores. Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) showed the strongest and most consistent association: each 1-unit increase in ln-transformed PFNA was associated with greater autism-related traits (adj-β [95% CI]=1.5 [-0.1, 3.0]). The summed mixture, which included six PFAS detected in >70% of participants, was not associated with SRS T-scores (adj-β [95% highest posterior density interval]=0.7 [-1.4, 3.0]). We did not observe consistent evidence of sex differences.
Prenatal blood concentrations of PFNA may be associated with modest increases in child autism-related traits. Future work should continue to examine the relationship between exposures to both legacy and emerging PFAS and additional dimensional, quantitative measures of childhood autism-related outcomes.
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Details
- Title
- Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and childhood autism-related outcomes
- Creators
- Jennifer L Ames - Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA USAMohamad Burjak - University of BaltimoreLyndsay A Avalos - Kaiser PermanenteJoseph M Braun - Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI USACatherine M Bulka - University of South FloridaLisa A Croen - Kaiser PermanenteAnne L Dunlop - Emory UniversityAssiamira Ferrara - Kaiser PermanenteRebecca C Fry - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMonique M Hedderson - Kaiser PermanenteMargaret R Karagas - Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH USADonghai Liang - Emory UniversityPi-I D Lin - Harvard Pilgrim Health CareKristen Lyall - Drexel University, A.J. Drexel Autism InstituteBrianna Moore - Colorado School of Public HealthRachel Morello-Frosch - School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA USAThomas G O'Connor - Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY USAJiwon Oh - University of California, DavisAmy M Padula - Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA USATracey J Woodruff - Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA USAYeyi Zhu - Kaiser PermanenteGhassan B Hamra - University of Baltimoreprogram collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes
- Publication Details
- Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)
- Publisher
- Lippincott
- Grant note
- UH3 OD023342 / NIH HHS UH3 OD023349 / NIH HHS UH3 OD023286 / NIH HHS UH3 OD023365 / NIH HHS
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000968041900021
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85152171671
- Other Identifier
- 991019737911504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health