Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan.
Sci Total Environ. 2016 Jan 15;541:1002-1010. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.10.017. Epub 2015 Nov 11.
Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are ubiquitous and persistent pollutants widely detected in blood samples of animals and humans across the globe. Although animal studies have shown the potential neurotoxicity of PFCs, there are few epidemiological studies regarding neurological effects of PFCs in humans, and those studies have had inconclusive results. In this study, we conducted a hospital-based prospective birth cohort study between 2002 and 2005 (n=514) to examine the associations between prenatal perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) exposures and the neurodevelopment of infants at 6 (n=173) and 18 (n=133) months of age. Using the second edition of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID II), the Mental and Psychomotor Developmental Indices (MDI and PDI, respectively) were assessed. PFOS and PFOA were measured in maternal serum samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. After controlling for confounders, prenatal PFOA concentrations were associated with the MDI of female (but not male) infants at 6 months of age (β=-0.296; 95% confidence interval (CI): -11.96, -0.682). Furthermore, females born to mothers with prenatal concentrations of PFOA in the fourth quartile had MDI scores -5.05 (95% CI: -10.66 to 0.55) lower than females born to mothers with concentrations of PFOA in the first quartile (p for trend=0.045). However, PFOA concentrations were not significantly associated with neurodevelopmental indices at 18 months of age. In addition, we did not observe any significant association between PFOS concentrations and neurodevelopmental outcomes in early infancy. In conclusion, our results suggest that prenatal PFOA exposure may affect female mental scales of neurodevelopment at 6 months of age. Further studies with larger sample sizes and longer observation periods are required to clarify sex difference of the neurodevelopmental effects.
全氟化学品（PFCs）是广泛存在且持久的污染物，在全球范围内的动物和人类血液样本中都有广泛检测到。尽管动物研究表明 PFCs 具有潜在的神经毒性，但关于人类 PFCs 对神经系统影响的流行病学研究很少，而且这些研究结果尚无定论。在这项研究中，我们于 2002 年至 2005 年进行了一项基于医院的前瞻性出生队列研究（n=514），以研究产前全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）和全氟辛酸（PFOA）暴露与婴儿 6 个月（n=173）和 18 个月（n=133）时神经发育之间的关系。我们使用贝利婴幼儿发展量表第二版（BSID II）评估精神和运动发育指数（MDI 和 PDI）。通过液相色谱-串联质谱法在母亲的血清样本中测量 PFOS 和 PFOA。在控制了混杂因素后，产前 PFOA 浓度与 6 个月时女婴（但非男婴）的 MDI 相关（β=-0.296；95%置信区间（CI）：-11.96，-0.682）。此外，母亲产前 PFOA 浓度处于第四四分位的女性婴儿的 MDI 评分比母亲产前 PFOA 浓度处于第一四分位的女性婴儿低-5.05（95%CI：-10.66 至 0.55）（趋势检验 p 值=0.045）。然而，PFOA 浓度与 18 个月时的神经发育指数无显著相关性。此外，我们没有观察到 PFOS 浓度与婴儿早期神经发育结果之间存在任何显著关联。总之，我们的结果表明，产前 PFOA 暴露可能会影响 6 个月龄女婴的精神神经发育量表。需要更大样本量和更长观察期的进一步研究来阐明神经发育影响的性别差异。
