title: Placental transfer of perfluorinated compounds is selective--a Norwegian Mother and Child sub-cohort study.
abstract: Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) comprise a large group of man-made fluorinated chemicals used in a number of consumer products and industrial applications. PFCs have shown to be persistent, bio-accumulative and widespread in the environment. Animal studies have demonstrated hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, developmental toxicity as well as hormonal effects. We investigated prenatal exposure to several PFCs and detected up to seven different PFCs in 123 paired samples of human maternal and cord blood, from a subcohort of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The maternal and foetal levels were significantly correlated for all PFCs tested with median PFC concentrations in cord blood ranging between 30 and 79% of the maternal concentrations, demonstrating placental passage. The composition of the different PFCs varied between cord and maternal blood, with a higher proportion of shorter chained PFCs together with a higher amount of the branched isomers of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in cord blood. Additionally, the sulfonate group seems to impede transfer efficiency. This indicates a selective placental passage of the different PFCs and hence a specific foetal exposure.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Environmental Medicine, Department of Chemical Toxicology, PO Box 4404 Nydalen, NO-0403 Oslo, Norway. kristine.bjerve.gutzkow@fhi.no
authors.forename: Kristine Bjerve
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Gützkow
authors.forename: Line Småstuen
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Haug
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Azemira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabaredzovic
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Becher
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brunborg
mesh_terms: D002210:Caprylates / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009035:Mothers; D009664:Norway; D011247:Pregnancy; D012042:Registries; D014470:Umbilical Cord
chemical_list: D002210:Caprylates; D005466:Fluorocarbons