Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure through human milk, health risk assessment and physical growth in one-year-old children in Shandong, China

Huyi Tao; Yan Zhang; Qian Yao; Yuxin Wang; Rong Shi; Yujie Cao; Peng Lu; Tao Yuan; Ying Tian; Yu Gao

Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology (Jan 2025)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure through human milk, health risk assessment and physical growth in one-year-old children in Shandong, China

Huyi Tao,
Yan Zhang,
Qian Yao,
Yuxin Wang,
Rong Shi,
Yujie Cao,
Peng Lu,
Tao Yuan,
Ying Tian,
Yu Gao

Affiliations

Huyi Tao: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Yan Zhang: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Qian Yao: Clinical Research Unit, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China
Yuxin Wang: NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (No. 2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing 100021, China
Rong Shi: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Yujie Cao: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
Peng Lu: Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
Tao Yuan: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Impact Assessment of Emerging Contaminants, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Ying Tian: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Impact Assessment of Emerging Contaminants, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Ministry of Education – Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China; Corresponding author at: Ministry of Education – Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China.
Yu Gao: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7
pp. 539 – 546

Abstract

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Breastfeeding is an important source of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure for breastfed infants. However, compared to prenatal exposures, health effects related to postnatal exposure to PFAS are less studied. In this study, we investigated PFAS exposure risk via breastfeeding and evaluate their associations with the physical growth of one-year-old infants in Laizhou Wan, a region with high PFAS exposure in Shandong, China. We included 117 mother-infant pairs who provided both human milk and maternal plasma samples for PFAS measurements. Among them, 99 one-year-old children were followed up for anthropometry measurement. We found that both legacy PFAS and their alternatives were widely detected in human milk samples. PFAS can be transferred from maternal serum to human milk. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (median: 0.970 ng/mL) was the dominant PFAS compound in human milk, while perfluoro-6-methylheptanoic acid (6 m-PFOA) (0.013 ng/mL) and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA) (0.018 ng/mL) had the highest median concentrations among branched isomers and alternatives, respectively. PFOA (77.35 ng/kg bw/d) had the highest median estimated daily intake (EDI) and contributed the most to the total median EDI of the Σ4PFAS (82.26 ng/kg bw/d). The daily exposure of infants to PFAS through breastfeeding has exceeded the health-based guidance value (HBGV) set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Sex-specific effects might exist in the association between infants' physical growth and PFAS exposures via human milk, with the PFAS mixtures showing negative associations with height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (β = −0.49, 95 % CI: −0.92, −0.06) and head circumference-for-age z-score (HCZ) (β = −0.61, 95 % CI: −1.02, −0.20), and a positive association with body mass index-for-age z-score (BMIZ) (β = 0.73, 95 % CI: 0.02, 1.44) only in female infants. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to verify our results.

Published in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology

ISSN: 2590-1826 (Online)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/environmental-chemistry-and-ecotoxicology/

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