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Epidemiology and Population Health

Gestational perfluoroalkyl substance exposure and body mass index trajectories over the first 12 years of life

International Journal of Obesity volume 45, pages 25–35 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Gestational exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a ubiquitous class of persistent endocrine disrupting chemicals, is associated with increased risk of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. However, it is unclear if gestational PFAS exposure is associated with adiposity trajectories related to adult obesity and cardiometabolic health.

Subjects/methods

We measured perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononaoic acid, and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) concentrations in maternal serum collected between 16 weeks gestation and delivery in a cohort of 345 mother–child pairs in Cincinnati, OH (enrolled 2003-06). From age 4 weeks to 12 years, we measured weight and length or height up to eight times and calculated child body mass index (BMI) (1865 repeated measures). Using covariate-adjusted linear mixed models and splines to account for repeated BMI measures and nonlinear BMI patterns, respectively, we estimated the age/magnitude of infancy BMI zenith (~1 year) and childhood BMI nadir (~5 years), BMI accrual from 8 to 12 years, and BMI at age 12 years by PFAS terciles.

Results

BMI trajectories varied by PFOA concentrations (age × PFOA interaction p value = 0.03). Children born to women with higher PFOA concentrations had lower infancy and early childhood BMI, earlier BMI nadir, accelerating BMI gains in mid-childhood and adolescence, and higher BMI at age 12 years. Some of these associations were non-monotonic. PFOS and PFHxS were not associated with alterations in BMI trajectories, but were monotonically associated with lower BMI across infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Compared to children in the first PFOS tercile, those in the second (β: −0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): −2.11, 0.51 kg/m2), and third (β: −1.41; 95% CI: −2.65, −0.14 kg/m2) had lower BMI at age 12 years.

Conclusions

These results suggest that gestational PFOA exposure may be associated with BMI trajectories related to adult obesity and cardiometabolic disease, while PFOS and PFHxS exposure is associated with lower BMI in the first 12 years of life.

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Fig. 1: Adjusted mean child BMI as a function of age according to terciles of maternal PFOA (panel A), PFOS (panel B), PFNA (panel C), and PFHxS (panel D) concentrations during pregnancy among HOME Study mother–child dyads: derived using linear mixed models with a spline for the age–BMI relation (n = 345, 1865 repeated BMI measures)a.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grants P01 ES011261, R01 ES014575, R01 ES020349, R01 ES027244, R01 ES025214, and R01 ES030078. We would like to acknowledge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratory staff who performed the PFAS measurements. We are grateful to our participants for the time they have given to our study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Joseph M. Braun, Melissa Eliot, Charles B. Eaton & Karl Kelsey

  2. Department of Biostatistics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    George D. Papandonatos

  3. Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jessie P. Buckley

  4. Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Kim M. Cecil

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Heidi J. Kalkwarf & Kimberly Yolton

  6. Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Aimin Chen

  7. Department of Family Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Charles B. Eaton

  8. Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Bruce P. Lanphear

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Correspondence to Joseph M. Braun.

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Conflict of interest

Brown University was compensated for JMB’s services as an expert witness for plaintiffs in litigation related to PFAS-contaminated drinking water; these funds were not paid to JMB directly. JMB received a honorarium for serving on an advisory board to Quest Diagnostics. CBE was compensated as an expert witness for plaintiffs in litigation related to PFAS-contaminated drinking water. BPL served as an expert witness in cases related to childhood lead poisoning, but he has not personally received any compensation for these services. The other authors report no conflict of interest.

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Braun, J.M., Eliot, M., Papandonatos, G.D. et al. Gestational perfluoroalkyl substance exposure and body mass index trajectories over the first 12 years of life. Int J Obes 45, 25–35 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-00717-x

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