Search

BACKGROUND: Measures of prenatal environmental exposures are important, and amniotic fluid levels may directly reflect fetal exposures during hypothesized windows of vulnerability. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to detect various phthalate metabolites [...]

BACKGROUND: Exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) may potentially disturb fetal Leydig cell hormone production and male genital development. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the associations between levels of amniotic fluid PFOS, fetal steroid hormone, and insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) and the prevalence of cryptorchidism and hypospadias. METHODS: Using the Danish National Patient Registry, we selected 270 cryptorchidism cases, 75 hypospadias cases, and 300 controls with stored maternal amniotic fluid samples available in a Danish pregnancy-screening biobank (1980-1996). We used mass spectrometry to measure PFOS in amniotic fluid from 645 persons and steroid hormones in samples from 545 persons. INSL3 was measured by immunoassay from 475 persons. Associations between PFOS concentration in amniotic fluid, hormone levels, and genital malformations were assessed by confounder-adjusted linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: The highest tertile of PFOS exposure (> 1.4 ng/mL) in amniotic fluid was associated with a 40% (95% CI: -69, -11%) lower INSL3 level and an 18% (95% CI: 7, 29%) higher testosterone level compared with the lowest tertile (< 0.8 ng/mL). Amniotic fluid PFOS concentration was not associated with cryptorchidism or hypospadias. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental PFOS exposure was associated with steroid hormone and INSL3 concentrations in amniotic fluid, but was not associated with cryptorchidism or hypospadias in our study population. Additional studies are needed to determine whether associations with fetal hormone levels may have long-term implications for reproductive health. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409288, Introduction Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has until recently been widely used in a variety of applications, especially in surface coatings used to make products water- and oil-resistant. PFOS is highly biopersistent [...]

Background: Measures of prenatal environmental exposures are important, and amniotic fluid levels may directly reflect fetal exposures during hypothesized windows of vulnerability.Objectives: We aimed to detect various phthalate metabolites and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in human amniotic fluid, to study temporal exposure trends, and to estimate potential asso­ciations with gestational week of amniocentesis and maternal age and parity at amniocentesis.Methods: We studied 300 randomly selected second-trimester amniotic fluid samples from a Danish pregnancy-screening biobank covering 1980 through 1996. We used only samples from male offspring pregnancies. We assayed the environmental pollutants by liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and analyzed data using generalized linear regression models.Results: We detected the di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) metabolite mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxy­pentyl) phthalate (5cx-MEPP) at a median concentration of 0.27 ng/mL [interquartile range (IQR): 0.20-0.37 ng/mL], the diisononyl phthalate (DiNP) metabolite mono(4-methyl-7-carboxyheptyl) phthalate (7cx-MMeHP) at 0.07 ng/mL (IQR: 0.05-0.11 ng/mL), and PFOS at 1.1 ng/mL (IQR: 0.66-1.60 ng/mL). An increase of 1 calendar year was associated with 3.5% lower [95% confidence interval (CI): -4.8%, -2.1%] 5cx-MEPP levels and with 7.1% higher (95% CI: 5.3%, 9.0%) 7cx-MMeHP levels. For each later gestational week of amniocentesis, 5cx-MEPP was 9.9% higher (95% CI: 4.8%, 15.2%), 7cx-MMeHP was 8.6% higher (95: CI: 2.7%, 14.9%), and PFOS was 9.4% higher (95: CI: 3.3%, 15.9%). We observed no associations with maternal age or parity.Conclusions: Measured metabolite levels appeared to parallel decreasing DEHP exposure and increasing DiNP exposure during the study period. The environmental pollutant levels were posi­tively associated with later gestational age at amniocentesis during pregnancy weeks 12-22. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]