Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and cognitive development in infancy and early childhood

Abstract

Background/Aim: Pregnant women are exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), suspected neurodevelopmental toxicants. A growing number of epidemiological studies have investigated associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and child’s neurodevelopment, but the results varied by assessment time points and tools. We investigated associations between prenatal exposure to PFAS and child’s cognitive development at multiple assessment time points.Methods: We included 215 mother-child pairs from the MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies - Learning Early Signs) longitudinal cohort study. Child’s cognitive functions were assessed using Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) at 6, 12, 24, and 36 months of age. Nine PFAS were quantified in maternal serum samples collected during pregnancy. We used multiple linear regression to estimate the change in MSEL scores in association with prenatal maternal PFAS concentrations at each assessment time point.Results: Higher prenatal maternal serum perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) was associated with lower MSEL Composite scores only at 24 months (β = -5.62, 95% CI: -10.6, -0.70). When compared to the lowest quartile, the third quartile of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) was associated with increased Visual Reception scores at 6, 24, and 36 months. When stratified by child’s sex, females showed stronger associations of PFOA (β = -7.84, 95% CI: -15.1, -0.61) and PFHxS (β = -7.91, 95% CI: -15.2, -0.62) with decreased MSEL Composite scores at 36 months, compared to males.Conclusions: Our results suggest that prenatal PFOA may adversely affect child’s cognitive development at 24 months of age. Further studies using the same assessment tool with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.Keywords: cognitive development, Mullen Scales of Early Learning, PFAS, prenatal exposureDisclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.