Prenatal Exposure to 11 Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) and infant weight in the Hokkaido Study on Environmental and Children’s Health

Abstract

Background Several animal studies have demonstrated prenatal exposures to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) decrease newborn birth weight. But in humans, not only low birth weight but also increase risk of obese is reported in proportion to maternal concentrations of PFCs. The effects of such PFCs on human infant growth remain unclear. Aims Our goal was to find blood concentrations of 11 PFCs and clarify their adverse effects of prenatal exposures on infant weight in a cohort study with large subjects. Methods Since January 2003, we have conducted a large-scale cohort in Hokkaido, Japan. We randomly selected 1,985 mother from 17,869 and obtained data from self-administered questionnaires and medical records, and measured concentrations of 11 PFCs in maternal plasma by UPLC/MS/MS. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the correlations between maternal blood concentrations of 11 PFCs and infant weight. Results After adjusting for possible confounding factors, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) levels negatively correlated with birth weight (per log-unit: partial regression coefficient ?=-41.7 g, 95% CI, -77.9 to -5.6 g). After gender stratification, PFNA levels negatively correlated with male birth weight specifically (per log-unit: ?=-59.3 g, 95% CI, -110.2 to -8.3 g). Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) and Perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) levels negatively correlated with female birth weight (per log-unit: ?=-42.0 g, 95% CI, -84.6 to 0.6 g and ?=-44.9 g, 95% CI, -90.1 to 0.3 g, respectively). However, those effects of PFNA, PFUnDA, and PFTrDA were not observed any more at 18 month follow-up. Conclusions Our results suggest that prenatal exposures to longer PFCAs than that of PFOA tend to negatively correlate with infant birth weight. But those negative associations disappeared after 18 month follow-up.