Associations of Early Life Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure With Body Mass Index and Risk of Overweight or Obesity at Age 2-18 Years: Mixture Analysis in the Prospective Boston Birth Cohort.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Environment International, 2025, v. 195: Associations of Early Life Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure With Body Mass Index and Risk of Overweight or Obesity at Age 2-18 Years: Mixture Analysis in the Prospective Boston Birth Cohort.
• Journal Article:
  Environment International
• Personal Author:
  Li, Zeyu ; Wang, Guoying ; Braun, Joseph M. ; Hong, Xiumei ; Choi, Giehae ; O'Leary, Shawn P. ; Yu, Chang Ho ; Pearson, Colleen ; Adams, William G. ; Fan, Zhihua (Tina) ; Buckley, Jessie P. ; Wang, Xiaobin
• Description:
  Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of widespread persistent chemicals, which may have obesogenic effects during the fetal period. This study investigated the long-term association of maternal plasma PFAS concentrations at delivery and their mixture with child body mass index (BMI) and the risk of Overweight or Obesity (OWO) at the age of 2-18 years.
  
  The study included 1189 mother-child dyads from the prospective Boston Birth Cohort. Eight PFAS were measured in maternal plasma samples collected 24-72 h after delivery. Outcomes were BMI Z-score and OWO status of children at 2-18 years. The exposure-outcome associations were evaluated with linear and modified Poisson mixed-effects regression for individual PFAS and Bayesian kernel machine regression and quantile-based g-computation models for PFAS mixture. We explored the effect modification by maternal pre-pregnancy OWO, child age, sex, and race.
  
  Maternal plasma samples had PFAS detection frequencies from 87 % to 100 % and geometric means ranging from 0.11 to 3.67 ng/mL. PFHpS and PFHxS were associated with higher child BMI Z-score. Such associations were stronger in children aged 6-12 years and 13-18 years than in 2-5 years. Stratified by maternal pre-pregnancy OWO, significant associations of the PFAS mixture with child BMI Z-score were only found in children of non-OWO mothers. In children aged 13-18 years, children with both high maternal plasma PFDeA, PFNA, and PFOA concentrations and maternal OWO had the highest risks of OWO compared to children with either only. Such synergistic effects were not found in younger children.
  
  Early life exposure to individual PFAS and their mixture were associated with a higher risk of childhood OWO, with stronger associations observed in older child age groups and in children of non-OWO mothers. Synergistic effects of PFAS exposures and maternal pre-pregnancy OWO became evident in adolescence.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Fluorocarbons
  • Body Mass Index
  • Overweight
  • Obesity
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Environmental Pollutants
  • Environmental Pollution
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Female
  More +
• Keywords:
  • PFAS
  • Childhood overweight or obesity
  • BMI
  • Maternal overweight or obesity
  • DOHaD theory
  • Prenatal exposure
• Source:
  Environment International, 2025, v. 195
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109206
• ISSN:
  0160-4120 ; 1873-6750
• Pubmed ID:
  39705976
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11786237
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  P30 ES010126/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 ES033252/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 HD098232/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 ES031272/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; K99 ES035464/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 ES034983/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 HD041702/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U88 EH001151/EH/NCEH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R00 ES035464/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 ES031521/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 ES030078/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Boston
• Pages in Document:
  109206 (27 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  195
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/261840/cdc_261840_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 744.43 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3644ca5bcc8d66a72aa820fcd69f167997e2bffc1a92a8a0f10cb7c73c92ba5dc3c31d386587b37c3c16aa1aec38cab407bc755019d310a5eaa1d8a7b53f1be2