title: Association of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) with age of puberty among children living near a chemical plant.
abstract: Animal studies suggest that perfluorocarbons (PFCs) may alter sexual maturation. Relationships of human PFC exposure with puberty are not clear. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate whether perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were associated with indicators of sexual maturation in a 2005-2006 survey of residents with PFOA water contamination from the Mid-Ohio Valley. Participants were 3076 boys and 2931 girls aged 8-18 years. They were classified as having reached puberty based on either hormone levels (total >50 ng/dL and free >5 pg/mL testosterone in boys and estradiol >20 pg/mL in girls) or onset of menarche. We estimated the odds of having reached puberty classified by these criteria and the fitted median age of reaching puberty in relation to serum PFOA and PFOS concentrations measured when puberty status was assigned. For boys, there was a relationship of reduced odds of reached puberty (raised testosterone) with increasing PFOS (delay of 190 days between the highest and lowest quartile). For girls, higher concentrations of PFOA or PFOS were associated with reduced odds of postmenarche (130 and 138 days of delay, respectively). In conclusion, our study showed a later age of puberty in this population correlated with PFC concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine , 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, United Kingdom. Maria-Jose.Lopez@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Maria-Jose
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lopez-Espinosa
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Genser
authors.forename: Ketan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dhatariya
authors.forename: Debapriya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mondal
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ducatman
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonardi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000097:blood*; D002210:Caprylates / Q000097:blood*; D002617:Chemical Industry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008572:Menarche / Q000097:blood; D009820:Ohio; D011627:Puberty / Q000097:blood*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D057566:Self Report; D014903:West Virginia; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid