Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and child behavioral problems

Jeong Weon Choi; Jiwon Oh; Deborah H Bennett; Antonia M Calafat; Rebecca J Schmidt; Hyeong-Moo Shin

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118511

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and child behavioral problems

Environ Res. 2024 Feb 21;251(Pt 1):118511. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118511. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jeong Weon Choi¹, Jiwon Oh², Deborah H Bennett², Antonia M Calafat³, Rebecca J Schmidt⁴, Hyeong-Moo Shin⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA. Electronic address: JeongWeon_Choi@baylor.edu.
² Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
³ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA; MIND Institute, Sacramento, CA, USA.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.

PMID: 38387490
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118511

Abstract

Background: Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may adversely affect child behaviors; however, findings of epidemiologic studies are inconsistent. We examined prenatal PFAS exposure in association with child behavioral problems.

Methods: Participants were 177 mother-child pairs from MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies - Learning Early Signs), a cohort with elevated familial likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We quantified nine PFAS in maternal serum (1-3 samples per mother) collected from the 1st to 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. Child behavioral problems were assessed at 3 years of age using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), developed to test for various behavioral problems of children. We examined associations of the CBCL scores with individual PFAS concentrations and with their mixture using negative binomial regression and weighted quantile sum regression models.

Results: Higher prenatal perfluorononanoate (PFNA) concentrations were associated with higher scores of externalizing problems [β = 0.16, 95% CI (0.01, 0.32)] and aggressive behavior [β = 0.17 (0.01, 0.32)]. Higher PFNA, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) were associated with higher scores of sleep problems [β = 0.34 (0.15, 0.54) for PFNA, β = 0.20 (0.02, 0.37) for PFOS, and β = 0.19 (0.00, 0.37) for PFDA]. No significant associations observed for typically developing children, whereas PFOS, PFNA, and PFDA were associated with several behavioral problems among children diagnosed with ASD or other neurodevelopmental concerns. Exposure to a mixture of PFAS was associated with higher scores of sleep problems and aggressive behavior, mostly contributed by PFNA and PFDA.

Conclusions: Our study showed that prenatal exposure to some PFAS could increase child behavioral problems at 3 years of age. However, our results should be interpreted with caution because we relied on data from a cohort with increased familial likelihood of ASD and thereby had more behavioral problems.

Keywords: Behavioral problems; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Prenatal exposure.

Abstract

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