Journal
HUMAN REPRODUCTION
Volume 24, Issue 5, Pages 1200-1205Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/humrep/den490
Keywords
maternal blood; time to pregnancy; fecundity; perfluorooctanoate; perfluorooctane sulfonate
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Funding
- International Epidemiology Institute ( IEI)
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Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are ubiquitous man-made compounds that are possible hormonal disruptors. We examined whether exposure to these compounds may decrease fecundity in humans. Plasma levels of PFOS and PFOA were measured at weeks 4-14 of pregnancy among 1240 women from the Danish National Birth Cohort recruited from 1996 to 2002. For this pregnancy, women reported time to pregnancy (TTP) in five categories (< 1, 1-2, 3-5, 6-12 and > 12 months). Infertility was defined as having a TTP of > 12 months or received infertility treatment to establish this pregnancy. Longer TTP was associated with higher maternal levels of PFOA and PFOS (P < 0.001). Compared with women in the lowest exposure quartile, the adjusted odds of infertility increased by 70-134 and 60-154% among women in the higher three quartiles of PFOS and PFOA, respectively. Fecundity odds ratios (FORs) were also estimated using Cox discrete-time models. The adjusted FORs were virtually identical for women in the three highest exposure groups of PFOS (FOR = 0.70, 0.67 and 0.74, respectively) compared with the lowest quartile. A linear-like trend was observed for PFOA (FOR = 0.72, 0.73 and 0.60 for three highest quartiles versus lowest quartile). When all quartiles were included in a likelihood ratio test, the trends were significant for PFOS and PFOA (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). These findings suggest that PFOA and PFOS exposure at plasma levels seen in the general population may reduce fecundity; such exposure levels are common in developed countries.
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