CONTEXT
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmental chemicals linked to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the extent to which PFAS plasma concentrations during pregnancy were associated with postpartum anthropometry and biomarkers.
DESIGN, PATIENTS, MEASURES
We studied women recruited between 1999-2002 in the Project Viva prospective cohort with pregnancy plasma concentrations of PFAS, including perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamide) acetic acid (EtFOSAA). Three-year postpartum anthropometry measurements were available from 786-801 women, blood pressure from 761 women, and blood biomarkers from 450-454 women. We used multivariable regression to evaluate the association of log2-transformed PFAS with postpartum anthropometry, blood pressure, and blood biomarkers (leptin, adiponectin, sex hormone binding globulin [SHBG], hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c], interleukin-6 [IL-6], C-reactive protein [CRP]), adjusting for age, pre-pregnancy BMI, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, income, smoking, parity, and breastfeeding history.
RESULTS
Pregnancy concentrations of certain PFAS were associated with greater adiposity (e.g., 0.4 cm [95%CI: -0.1, 0.9] greater waist circumference per doubling in EtFOSAA; 0.2 cm [95%CI: -0.1, 0.5] greater mid-upper arm circumference per doubling in PFOA; 1.2 mm [95%CI: 0.1, 2.2] thicker sum of subscapular and triceps skinfolds per doubling in PFOS) and higher systolic blood pressure (e.g., 1.2 mm Hg [95%CI: 0.3, 2.2] per doubling in PFOS) at three years postpartum. Higher EtFOSAA concentrations were also associated with 10.8% higher IL-6 (95%CI: 3.3, 18.9) and 6.1% lower SHBG (95%CI: 0.7, 11.2) per doubling.
CONCLUSIONS
Pregnancy concentrations of EtFOSAA, PFOS, and PFOA were associated with adverse postpartum cardiometabolic markers.