Plasma Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Body Composition From Mid-Childhood to Early Adolescence

Abstract

Context: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may alter body composition by lowering anabolic hormones and increasing inflammation, but data are limited, particularly in adolescence when body composition is rapidly changing.

Objective: To evaluate associations of PFAS plasma concentrations in childhood with change in body composition through early adolescence.

Methods: A total of 537 children in the Boston-area Project Viva cohort participated in this study. We used multivariable linear regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to examine associations of plasma concentrations of 6 PFAS, quantified by mass spectrometry, in mid-childhood (mean age, 7.9 years; 2007-2010) with change in body composition measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry from mid-childhood to early adolescence (mean age, 13.1 years).

Results: In single-PFAS linear regression models, children with higher concentrations of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorodecanoate (PFDA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) had less accrual of lean mass (eg, -0.33 [95% CI: -0.52, -0.13] kg/m2 per doubling of PFOA). Children with higher PFOS and PFHxS had less accrual of total and truncal fat mass (eg, -0.32 [95% CI: -0.54, -0.11] kg/m2 total fat mass per doubling of PFOS), particularly subcutaneous fat mass (eg, -17.26 [95% CI -32.25, -2.27] g/m2 per doubling of PFOS). Children with higher PFDA and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) had greater accrual of visceral fat mass (eg, 0.44 [95% CI: 0.13, 0.75] g/m2 per doubling of PFDA). Results from BKMR mixture models were consistent with linear regression analyses.

Conclusion: Early life exposure to some but not all PFAS may be associated with adverse changes in body composition.

Keywords: PFAS; adolescence; body composition; chemical mixtures; endocrine disrupting chemicals.