Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Male Reproductive Function in Young Adulthood: Combined Exposure to Seven PFAS
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Standard
Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Male Reproductive Function in Young Adulthood : Combined Exposure to Seven PFAS. / Haervig, Katia Keglberg; Petersen, Kajsa Ugelvig; Hougaard, Karin Sorig; Lindh, Christian; Ramlau-Hansen, Cecilia Host; Toft, Gunnar; Giwercman, Aleksander; Hoyer, Birgit Bjerre; Flachs, Esben Meulengracht; Bonde, Jens Peter; Tottenborg, Sandra Sogaard.
I: Environmental Health Perspectives, Bind 130, Nr. 10, 107001, 2022.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Male Reproductive Function in Young Adulthood
T2 - Combined Exposure to Seven PFAS
AU - Haervig, Katia Keglberg
AU - Petersen, Kajsa Ugelvig
AU - Hougaard, Karin Sorig
AU - Lindh, Christian
AU - Ramlau-Hansen, Cecilia Host
AU - Toft, Gunnar
AU - Giwercman, Aleksander
AU - Hoyer, Birgit Bjerre
AU - Flachs, Esben Meulengracht
AU - Bonde, Jens Peter
AU - Tottenborg, Sandra Sogaard
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - BACKGROUND: Concerns remain about the human reproductive toxicity of the widespread per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during early stages of development.OBJECTIVES: We examined associations between maternal plasma PFAS levels during early pregnancy and male offspring reproductive function in adulthood.METHODS: The study included 864 young men (age range:18.9-21.2 y) from the Fetal Programming of Semen Quality (FEPOS) cohort established between 2017 and 2019. Plasma samples from their mothers, primarily from the first trimester, were retrieved from the Danish National Biobank and levels of 15 PFAS were measured. Seven PFAS had detectable levels above the limit of detection in >80% of the samples and were included in anal-yses. Semen quality, testicular volume, and levels of reproductive hormones and PFAS were assessed in the young men. We used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to estimate the associations between combined exposure to maternal PFAS and reproductive function, and negative binomial regression to estimate the associations of single substances, while adjusting for a range of a priori-defined fetal and postnatal risk factors.RESULTS: By a 1-unit increase in the WQS index, combined maternal PFAS exposure was associated with lower sperm concentration (-8%; 95% CI: -16%, -1%), total sperm count (-10%; 95% CI: -17%, -2%), and a higher proportion of nonprogressive and immotile sperm (5%; 95% CI: 1%, 8%) in the young men. Different PFAS contributed to the associations with varying strengths; however, perfluoroheptanoic acid was identified as the main contributor in the analyses of all three outcomes despite the low concentration. We saw no clear association between exposure to maternal PFAS and testicular volume or reproductive hormones.DISCUSSION: In a sample of young men from the general Danish population, we observed consistent inverse associations between exposure to mater-nal PFAS and semen quality. The study needs to be replicated in other populations, taking combined exposure, as well as emerging short-chain PFAS, into consideration. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10285
AB - BACKGROUND: Concerns remain about the human reproductive toxicity of the widespread per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during early stages of development.OBJECTIVES: We examined associations between maternal plasma PFAS levels during early pregnancy and male offspring reproductive function in adulthood.METHODS: The study included 864 young men (age range:18.9-21.2 y) from the Fetal Programming of Semen Quality (FEPOS) cohort established between 2017 and 2019. Plasma samples from their mothers, primarily from the first trimester, were retrieved from the Danish National Biobank and levels of 15 PFAS were measured. Seven PFAS had detectable levels above the limit of detection in >80% of the samples and were included in anal-yses. Semen quality, testicular volume, and levels of reproductive hormones and PFAS were assessed in the young men. We used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to estimate the associations between combined exposure to maternal PFAS and reproductive function, and negative binomial regression to estimate the associations of single substances, while adjusting for a range of a priori-defined fetal and postnatal risk factors.RESULTS: By a 1-unit increase in the WQS index, combined maternal PFAS exposure was associated with lower sperm concentration (-8%; 95% CI: -16%, -1%), total sperm count (-10%; 95% CI: -17%, -2%), and a higher proportion of nonprogressive and immotile sperm (5%; 95% CI: 1%, 8%) in the young men. Different PFAS contributed to the associations with varying strengths; however, perfluoroheptanoic acid was identified as the main contributor in the analyses of all three outcomes despite the low concentration. We saw no clear association between exposure to maternal PFAS and testicular volume or reproductive hormones.DISCUSSION: In a sample of young men from the general Danish population, we observed consistent inverse associations between exposure to mater-nal PFAS and semen quality. The study needs to be replicated in other populations, taking combined exposure, as well as emerging short-chain PFAS, into consideration. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10285
KW - PERFLUORINATED ALKYL ACIDS
KW - NATIONAL BIRTH COHORT
KW - HUMAN SEMEN QUALITY
KW - PERFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES
KW - FETAL ORGANS
KW - CORD BLOOD
KW - IN-UTERO
KW - SERUM
KW - PERFLUOROOCTANESULFONATE
KW - FERTILITY
U2 - 10.1289/EHP10285
DO - 10.1289/EHP10285
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36197086
VL - 130
JO - Environmental Health Perspectives
JF - Environmental Health Perspectives
SN - 0091-6765
IS - 10
M1 - 107001
ER -
ID: 324496277