Associations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their mixture with oxidative stress biomarkers during pregnancy

Background: Oxidative stress from excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a hypothesized contributor to preterm birth. Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure is reported to generate ROS in laboratory settings, and is linked to adverse birth outcomes globally. However, to our knowledge, the relationship between PFAS and oxidative stress has not been examined in the context of human pregnancy. Objective: To investigate the associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and oxidative stress biomarkers among pregnant people.Methods: Our analytic sample included 428 participants enrolled in the Illinois Kids Development Study and Chemicals In Our Bodies prospective birth cohorts between 2014 and 2019. Twelve PFAS were measured in second trimester serum. We focused on seven PFAS that were detected in >65 % of participants. Urinary levels of 8-isoprostane-prostaglandin-F2 alpha, prostaglandin-F2 alpha, 2,3-dinor-8-iso-PGF2 alpha, and 2,3-dinor-5,6-dihydro-8-iso-PGF2 alpha were measured in the second and third trimesters as biomarkers of oxidative stress. We fit linear mixed-effects models to estimate individual associations between PFAS and oxidative stress biomarkers. We used quantile g -computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess associations between the PFAS mixture and averaged oxidative stress biomarkers.Results: Linear mixed-effects models showed that an interquartile range increase in perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was associated with an increase in 8-isoprostane-prostaglandin-F2 alpha (beta = 0.10, 95 % confidence interval = 0, 0.20). In both quantile g-computation and BKMR, and across all oxidative stress biomarkers, PFOS contributed the most to the overall mixture effect. The six remaining PFAS were not significantly associated with changes in oxidative stress biomarkers.Conclusions: Our study is the first to investigate the relationship between PFAS exposure and biomarkers of oxidative stress during human pregnancy. We found that PFOS was associated with elevated levels of oxidative stress, which is consistent with prior work in animal models and cell lines. Future research is needed to un-derstand how prenatal PFAS exposure and maternal oxidative stress may affect fetal development.

Automated summary

This study is the first to investigate the relationship between PFAS exposure and biomarkers of oxidative stress during human pregnancy. The researchers found that PFOS was associated with elevated levels of oxidative stress, which is consistent with prior work in animal models and cell lines. Further research is needed to understand how prenatal PFAS exposure and maternal oxidative stress may affect fetal development.