The association between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and brain, esophageal, melanomatous skin, prostate, and lung cancer using the 2003-2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets

Jinyoung Moon; Yongseok Mun

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24337

The association between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and brain, esophageal, melanomatous skin, prostate, and lung cancer using the 2003-2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets

Heliyon. 2024 Jan 14;10(2):e24337. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24337. eCollection 2024 Jan 30.

Authors

Jinyoung Moon^{1

2

3}, Yongseok Mun⁴

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, 1, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
² Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Inha University Hospital, 27, Inhang-ro, Jung-gu, Incheon, 22332, South Korea.
³ Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, 260, Gonghang-daero, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, 07804, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, 1, Singil-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 07441, South Korea.

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to use the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets to examine potential relationships between four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposures and each type of cancer, specifically perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA).

Methods: A logistic regression analysis was performed. A directed acyclic graph was plotted to adjust for the potential confounders.

Results: The odds ratio (OR) of brain cancer for a one-unit increase in ln (PFHxS) was 8.16 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.98-68.89). The OR of esophageal cancer for one unit increase of ln (PFOA) and ln (PFOS) was 5.10 (95 % CI 1.18-17.34) and 3.97 (95 % CI 1.24-11.42), respectively. The OR of melanoma for one unit increase of ln (PFOA) and ln (PFHxS) was 1.65 (95 % CI 1.07-2.58) and 1.55 (95 % CI 1.07-2.25), respectively. The OR of prostate cancer for one unit increase of ln (PFOS) and ln (PFNA) was 1.21 (95 % CI 1.00-1.48) and 1.27 (95 % CI 1.00-1.62), respectively. The OR of lung cancer for one unit increase of ln (PFOS) and ln (PFNA) was 2.62 (95 % CI 1.24-5.83) and 2.38 (95 % CI 1.00-5.52), respectively.

Discussion: Considering that brain, esophageal, and melanomatous skin cancers have not been targets of epidemiologic studies regarding PFAS exposure, future studies could target these cancers as outcomes of interest.

Keywords: Cancer; Logistic regression; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Perfluorooctanoic acid; US National health and nutrition examination survey.