Gestational per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and infant body mass index trajectory in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study

Megan E Romano; Brianna C Heggeseth; Lisa G Gallagher; Julianne Cook Botelho; Antonia M Calafat; Diane Gilbert-Diamond; Margaret R Karagas

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.114418

Gestational per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and infant body mass index trajectory in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study

Environ Res. 2022 Dec;215(Pt 3):114418. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114418. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Authors

Megan E Romano¹, Brianna C Heggeseth², Lisa G Gallagher³, Julianne Cook Botelho⁴, Antonia M Calafat⁴, Diane Gilbert-Diamond³, Margaret R Karagas³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanon, NH, USA. Electronic address: Megan.E.Romano@dartmouth.edu.
² Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, USA.
³ Department of Epidemiology, Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanon, NH, USA.
⁴ National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent, potential metabolic disruptors of concern for infants. Mothers participating in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) provided a plasma sample during pregnancy to measure concentrations of seven PFAS, and infant weight and length were abstracted from well-child visits between birth and 12 months. Sex-specific growth patterns of child body mass index (BMI) were fit using a growth mixture model (GMM) and the relative risk ratios (RRR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) for the association of maternal plasma PFAS with BMI growth patterns during infancy were estimated by using multinomial logistic model for the group probabilities in the GMM. Four growth patterns were identified: Group 1) a steep increase in BMI during the first 6 months, then a leveling off; Group 2) a gradual increase in BMI across the year; Group 3) a steep increase in BMI during months 1-3, then stable BMI; and Group 4) a gradual increase in BMI with plateau around 3 months (reference group). For boys, higher maternal pregnancy perfluorooctanoate concentrations were associated with a 60% decreased chance of being in group 3 as compared to group 4, after adjusting for potential confounding variables (RRR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.9). For girls, higher maternal perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentrations during pregnancy were associated with a higher likelihood of following the growth pattern of groups 2 (RRR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.0, 6.1) and 3 (RRR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.0, 7.6) as compared to group 4, adjusting for potential confounding variables. In this cohort, sex-specific associations of maternal plasma PFAS concentrations during pregnancy with growth patterns during the first year of life were observed, with greater BMI growth observed among infant girls born to mothers with higher pregnancy concentrations of PFOS.

Keywords: Growth trajectories; Infant; Longitudinal Studies; Perfluoroalkyl substances; Polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Alkanesulfonic Acids*
Birth Cohort
Body Mass Index
Cohort Studies
Environmental Pollutants*
Female
Fluorocarbons*
Humans
Infant
Male
New Hampshire
Pregnancy

Substances

Alkanesulfonic Acids
Environmental Pollutants
Fluorocarbons
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding