Associations between gestational exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances, fetal growth, and the mediation effect of thyroid hormones

Abstract Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may cause adverse birth outcomes. Thyroid hormones may play a key role in mediating the effects of PFAS. We enrolled 374 mother-infant pairs from the Ezhou birth cohort study between 2019 and 2020. Eight PFASs and six thyroid hormones were measured in maternal serum during the first trimester of pregnancy. Neonatal growth metrics, including birth weight, length, head circumference, and gestational age, were acquired. Multivariate linear regression was performed to determine the associations between maternal serum PFAS and thyroid hormone levels and birth outcomes and a mediation analysis was also conducted. Except for perfluoroheptanoic acid (41.2%), the other seven PFAS detection rates were more than 85%, and the highest median concentration was observed for PFOSA with levels of 5.21 ng/mL. After controlling for typical confounders, we observed a decrease in birth length (cm) with increasing serum concentrations of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) (β = -0.54; 95% CI = -1.0, -0.08) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) (β = -0.64; 95% CI = -0.86, -0.42). Additionally, a decrease in birth head circumference was observed with increasing concentrations of perfluorooctanote (PFOA) (β = -0.73, 95% CI = -1.19, -0.27) and PFHxS (β = -0.30; 95% CI = -0.53, -0.07). Maternal free triiodothyronine (FT3) mediated 36.7% of the negative association between PFNA and birth length, and free thyroxine (FT4) mediated 30.8% of the effect of PFOA on head circumference. When performing stratified analysis by infant sex, the associations might differ between boys and girls. Our study suggested prenatal exposure to some PFASs was negatively associated with birth length and circumference, and FT3 and FT4 may partly mediate the association.