Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA; Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
Environ Pollut. 2019 Mar;246:482-490. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.12.018. Epub 2018 Dec 11.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may have been released during the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) on 9/11. Evidence suggests PFAS can cross the placental barrier in humans and cause harm to the developing fetus; however, no studies have measured PFAS in mothers exposed to the WTC disaster during pregnancy. We measured PFAS in maternal plasma (n = 48) or cord blood (n = 231) from pregnant women in the Columbia University WTC birth cohort, enrolled between December 13, 2001 and June 26, 2002 at one of three hospitals located near the WTC site. In order to maximize sample size, we used a linear regression to transform the 48 maternal plasma samples to cord blood equivalents in our study; cord blood and transformed maternal plasma-to-cord blood samples were then analyzed together. We evaluated the association between WTC exposure and PFAS concentrations using three exposure variables: 1) living/working within two miles of WTC; 2) living within two miles of WTC regardless of work location; and 3) working but not living within two miles of WTC. Exposure was compared with those not living/working within two miles of WTC (reference group). Living/working within two miles of WTC was associated with 13% higher perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) concentrations compared with the reference group [GMR (95% CI): 1.13 (1.01, 1.27)]. The association was stronger when comparing only those who lived within two miles of WTC to the reference group [GMR (95% CI): 1.17 (1.03, 1.33)], regardless of work location. Our results provide evidence that exposure to the WTC disaster during pregnancy resulted in increases in PFAS concentrations, specifically PFOA. This work identifies a potentially vulnerable and overlooked population, children exposed to the WTC disaster in utero, and highlights the importance of future longitudinal studies in this cohort to investigate later life effects resulting from these early life exposures.
全氟烷基物质（PFAS）可能是在 911 年世界贸易中心（WTC）倒塌期间释放的。有证据表明，PFAS 可以穿过人类胎盘屏障，并对发育中的胎儿造成伤害；然而，尚无研究测量过接触 WTC 灾难的孕妇在怀孕期间的 PFAS 含量。我们测量了哥伦比亚大学 WTC 出生队列中怀孕妇女的母体血浆（n=48）或脐带血（n=231）中的 PFAS，这些妇女是在 2001 年 12 月 13 日至 2002 年 6 月 26 日期间在 WTC 现场附近的三家医院之一登记的。为了最大限度地增加样本量，我们在研究中使用线性回归将 48 份母体血浆样本转化为脐带血等效物；然后将脐带血和转化后的母体血浆与脐带血样本一起进行分析。我们使用三个暴露变量评估了 WTC 暴露与 PFAS 浓度之间的关联：1）居住/工作距离 WTC 两英里内；2）居住距离 WTC 两英里内，无论工作地点如何；3）工作但不居住距离 WTC 两英里内。将暴露与不在 WTC 两英里范围内居住/工作的人群进行了比较（参照组）。与参照组相比，居住/工作距离 WTC 两英里内的人群全氟辛酸（PFOA）浓度高出 13%[几何平均比（95%置信区间）：1.13（1.01，1.27）]。当仅比较居住在 WTC 两英里范围内的人群与参照组时，关联更强[几何平均比（95%置信区间）：1.17（1.03，1.33）]，无论工作地点如何。我们的研究结果表明，怀孕期间接触 WTC 灾难会导致 PFAS 浓度增加，特别是 PFOA。这项工作确定了一个潜在脆弱且被忽视的人群，即子宫内接触 WTC 灾难的儿童，并强调了在该队列中进行未来纵向研究的重要性，以调查这些早期暴露对后期生活的影响。
