TY - JOUR
T1 - Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in association with autism spectrum disorder in the MARBLES study
AU - Oh, Jiwon
AU - Bennett, Deborah H.
AU - Calafat, Antonia M.
AU - Tancredi, Daniel
AU - Roa, Dorcas L.
AU - Schmidt, Rebecca J.
AU - Hertz-Picciotto, Irva
AU - Shin, Hyeong Moo
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21-ES028131, R01-ES020392) and was supported in part by the UC Davis MIND Institute Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (U54 HD079125); and the U.S. EPA STAR #R829388, R833292, and RD835432.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Background: Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has shown potential to adversely affect child brain development, but epidemiologic evidence remains inconsistent. We examined whether prenatal exposure to PFAS was associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Participants were 173 mother–child pairs from MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies – Learning Early Signs), a high-risk ASD cohort. At 3 years old, children were clinically confirmed for ASD and classified into ASD (n = 57) and typical development (TD, n = 116). We quantified nine PFAS in maternal serum collected during pregnancy. We examined associations of ASD with individual PFAS as well as the combined effect of PFAS on ASD using scores of the first principal component (PC-1) accounting for the largest variance. Results: Prenatal perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) showed positive associations (per 2 nanogram per milliliter increase: relative risk (RR) = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.61 [PFOA]; RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.69 [PFNA]), while perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) showed a negative association (RR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.77, 1.01) with ASD risk. When examining associations of ASD with untransformed PFAS concentrations, PFOA, PFNA, and PC-1 were associated with increased ASD risk (per nanogram per milliliter increase: RR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.65; RR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.85; RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.25, respectively), while the RR of PFHxS moved toward the null. Conclusions: From this high-risk ASD cohort, we observed increased risk of ASD in children exposed to PFOA and PFNA. Further studies should be conducted in the general population because this population may have a larger fraction of cases resulting from genetic sources.
AB - Background: Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has shown potential to adversely affect child brain development, but epidemiologic evidence remains inconsistent. We examined whether prenatal exposure to PFAS was associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Participants were 173 mother–child pairs from MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies – Learning Early Signs), a high-risk ASD cohort. At 3 years old, children were clinically confirmed for ASD and classified into ASD (n = 57) and typical development (TD, n = 116). We quantified nine PFAS in maternal serum collected during pregnancy. We examined associations of ASD with individual PFAS as well as the combined effect of PFAS on ASD using scores of the first principal component (PC-1) accounting for the largest variance. Results: Prenatal perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) showed positive associations (per 2 nanogram per milliliter increase: relative risk (RR) = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.61 [PFOA]; RR = 1.24, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.69 [PFNA]), while perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) showed a negative association (RR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.77, 1.01) with ASD risk. When examining associations of ASD with untransformed PFAS concentrations, PFOA, PFNA, and PC-1 were associated with increased ASD risk (per nanogram per milliliter increase: RR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.65; RR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.85; RR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.25, respectively), while the RR of PFHxS moved toward the null. Conclusions: From this high-risk ASD cohort, we observed increased risk of ASD in children exposed to PFOA and PFNA. Further studies should be conducted in the general population because this population may have a larger fraction of cases resulting from genetic sources.
KW - Autism spectrum disorder
KW - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
KW - Prenatal exposure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098519977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85098519977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106328
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106328
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098519977
VL - 147
JO - Environmental International
JF - Environmental International
SN - 0160-4120
M1 - 106328
ER -