Bone mass density following developmental exposures to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): a longitudinal cohort study

Environmental Health

Research

Jann Mortensen¹  Philippe Grandjean²  Annelise Blomberg³  Pál Weihe⁴ 

[1] Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark;Department of Medicine, The Faroese National Hospital, Torshavn, Faroe Islands;Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark;Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Scheelevägen 2, 22363, Lund, Sweden;Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, Faroese Hospital System, Torshavn, Faroe Islands;Center of Health Science, University of the Faroe Islands, Torshavn, Faroe Islands;

关键词: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances;    PFAS;    DXA;    Childhood;    Bone mass density;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12940-022-00929-w

 received in 2022-03-01, accepted in 2022-10-02,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEnvironmental exposures to industrial chemicals, including perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), may play a role in bone development and future risk of osteoporosis. However, as prospective evidence is limited, the role of developmental PFAS exposures in bone density changes in childhood is unclear. The objective of this study was to estimate associations between serum-PFAS concentrations measured in infancy and early childhood and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measured at age 9 years in a birth cohort of children from the Faroe Islands.MethodsWe prospectively measured concentrations of five PFAS in cord serum and serum collected at 18 months, 5 years and 9 years, and conducted whole-body DXA scans at the 9-year clinical visit. Our study included 366 mother-child pairs with DXA scans and at least one PFAS measurement. We estimated covariate-adjusted associations of individual PFAS concentrations with age-, sex- and height-adjusted aBMD z-scores using multivariable regression models and applied formal mediation analysis to estimate the possible impact of by several measures of body composition. We also evaluated whether associations were modified by child sex.ResultsWe found PFAS exposures in childhood to be negatively associated with aBMD z-scores, with the strongest association seen for perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) at age 5 years. A doubling in age-5 PFNA was associated with a 0.15 decrease in aBMD z-score (95% CI: − 0.26, − 0.039). The PFNA-aBMD association was significantly stronger in males than females, although effect modification by sex was not significant for other PFAS exposures. Results from the mediation analysis suggested that any potential associations between aBMD and 18-month PFAS concentrations may be mediated by total body fat and BMI, although most estimated total effects for PFAS exposures at age 18 months were non-significant. PFAS exposures at age 9 were not associated with age-9 aBMD z-scores.ConclusionsThe PFAS-aBMD associations identified in this and previous studies suggest that bone may be a target tissue for PFAS. Pediatric bone density has been demonstrated to strongly track through young adulthood and possibly beyond; therefore, these prospective results may have important public health implications.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022. corrected publication 2023

【 图 表 】

41116_2022_35_Article_IEq569.gif

41116_2022_35_Article_IEq566.gif

41116_2022_35_Article_IEq563.gif

41116_2022_35_Article_IEq507.gif