title: Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Adiposity in Early and Mid-Childhood.
abstract: Few studies have examined whether prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) is associated with childhood adiposity.
  
  
  
  We examined associations of prenatal exposure to PFASs with adiposity in early and mid-childhood.
  
  
  
  We measured plasma PFAS concentrations in 1,645 pregnant women (median, 9.6 weeks gestation) enrolled in Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort study in Massachusetts (USA), between 1999 and 2002. We assessed overall and central adiposity in 1,006 children in early childhood (median, 3.2 years) and 876 in mid-childhood (median, 7.7 years) using anthropometric and dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements. We fitted multivariable linear regression models to estimate exposure-outcome associations and evaluated effect modification by child sex.
  
  
  
  Median (25-75th percentiles) prenatal plasma perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) concentrations in children assessed in early childhood were 5.6 (4.1-7.7), 24.8 (18.4-33.9), 2.4 (1.6-3.8), and 0.6 (0.5-0.9) ng/mL, respectively. Among girls, each interquartile range increment of prenatal PFOA concentrations was associated with 0.21 kg/m2(95% CI: -0.05, 0.48) higher body mass index, 0.76 mm (95% CI: -0.17, 1.70) higher sum of subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness, and 0.17 kg/m2(95% CI: -0.02, 0.36) higher DXA total fat mass index in mid-childhood. Similar associations were observed for PFOS, PFHxS, and PFNA. We observed null associations for boys and early-childhood adiposity measures.
  
  
  
  In this cohort, prenatal exposure to PFASs was associated with small increases in adiposity measurements in mid-childhood, but only among girls. Citation: Mora AM, Oken E, Rifas-Shiman SL, Webster TF, Gillman MW, Calafat AM, Ye X, Sagiv SK. 2017. Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and adiposity in early and mid-childhood. Environ Health Perspect 125:467-473; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP246.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Ana María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oken
authors.forename: Sheryl L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Rifas-Shiman
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Gillman
authors.forename: Antonia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Calafat
authors.forename: Xiaoyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Sharon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sagiv
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005466:Fluorocarbons; C018959:hexadecafluoro-nonanoic acid; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; C078626:perflexane