Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances and Association with Response Biomarkers among NHANES 2005-2010 Subjects

摘要

Presence of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment is widespread. These stable chemicals have half-lives in the human body of several years. Their presence has been linked to several diseases. This study explores the link between PFAS exposure and disease, by use of biomarkers. Male and nonpregnant female subjects were selected if they had been tested for PFAS, were between ages 20 and 49, and had not experienced any chronic diseases. From the 12 available PFAS, five were selected based on their high percentage (≥75%) above the limit of detection: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHS), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDE), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). By standardizing and summing up these chemicals, an overall exposure measure (PFSUM) was created to study associations with early and late response biomarkers. Ferritin, serum creatinine, platelet count, and serum uric acid were selected for the initial association with PFSUM. These biomarkers are known to be associated with the metabolic syndrome and associated diseases. Significant Spearman correlations with PFSUM were observed for the following biomarkers for males: platelets (0.110, p<0.01), serum creatinine (0.205, p<0.0001), serum uric acid (0.112, p<0.01), and for females (ferritin 0.233, p<0.0001, serum creatinine 0.201, p<0.0001). Initial observations have shown that these four biomarkers are correlated with biomarkers known to be associated with system damage, such as inflammation, liver function, glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, and blood pressure. The results indicate that PFAS may be linked to disease by a series of adverse health outcomes. This abstract does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.