Low transplacental transfer of PFASs in the small-for-gestational-age (SGA) new-borns: Evidence from a Chinese birth cohort

Yijun Fan; Liyan Guo; Ruolan Wang; Jingjing Xu; Yuanyuan Fang; Wenxin Wang; Jia Lv; Weitian Tang; Hua Wang; De-Xiang Xu; Lin Tao; Yichao Huang

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139964

Low transplacental transfer of PFASs in the small-for-gestational-age (SGA) new-borns: Evidence from a Chinese birth cohort

Chemosphere. 2023 Nov:340:139964. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139964. Epub 2023 Aug 24.

Authors

Yijun Fan¹, Liyan Guo², Ruolan Wang¹, Jingjing Xu², Yuanyuan Fang¹, Wenxin Wang¹, Jia Lv², Weitian Tang², Hua Wang², De-Xiang Xu², Lin Tao³, Yichao Huang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
² Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
³ Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: taolintt@126.com.
⁴ Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health; Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: yichao.huang@ahmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37633609
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139964

Abstract

Early life in utero exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and infiltration through the placenta into cord blood pose significant risk to fetal development. Accumulating knowledge suggests that PFASs pass through the placenta in multiple transportation ways, not limiting to passive transport but also active transport or facilitated diffusion. Therefore, we propose that the transplacental transfer efficiency (TTE) could be re-evaluated as traditional cord to maternal ratio-based method might overlook certain biological or health information from the mother and fetus. In this study, we investigated 30 PFAS chemicals in paired maternal and cord serum from 195 births classified as small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and matched appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA). PFASs were ubiquitously detected in the maternal and serum samples, with PFOA, PFOS, 6:2 Cl-PFESA and other dominant compounds. We adopted a modified TTE estimation method (TTE_m), taking into consideration of the total burden mass of PFASs in the blood from mother to fetus. Using the modified TTE_m, a significant (p < 0.05) decrease was observed in the PFAS transplacental transfer potential in SGA (1.6%-11.3%) compared to AGA (2.3%-21.1%), suggesting a reverse association between TTE and SGA birth risk. This is the first study attempted to re-evaluate the TTE of PFAS and indicates that TTE_m might be more advantageous to reflect the transplacental transfer potency of chemicals particularly when transportation mechanisms are multi-faceted.

Keywords: Blood; PFASs; Prenatal exposure; SGA; Transplacental transfer.

MeSH terms

Birth Cohort*
East Asian People
Female
Fetus
Fluorocarbons*
Humans
Infant
Infant, Small for Gestational Age
Maternal Exposure*
Pregnancy

Substances

Fluorocarbons