Department of Public Health, China Medical University College of Public Health, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Aug 12;17(16):5836. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165836.
Although studies have shown that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are potential environmental ototoxicants, epidemiologic study has been limited. I conducted a cross-sectional study to re-examine the associations between PFAS and hearing impairment. Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000, 2003-06, 2009-12, and 2015-16. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were measured in serum samples. Participants were divided into quartiles for each PFAS. Air conduction pure-tone audiometry was administered. Hearing impairment (1: yes, 0: no) was defined as a hearing threshold of more than 25 dB at 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz in the worse ear. I assessed the relation of serum PFAS with hearing impairment by the generalized linear mixed model with a logit link and binary distribution. Tests for linear trend across quartiles of serum PFAS were conducted using the median serum PFAS in each quartile as a continuous variable. After adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, education, ethnicity group, and family income, I found positive correlations between PFOA and hearing impairment at 2000 Hz (-trend < 0.01) and 3000 Hz (-trend = 0.02); between PFOS and hearing impairment at 500 Hz (-trend < 0.01), 2000 Hz (-trend < 0.0001) and 3000 Hz (-trend = 0.02); between PFNA and hearing impairment at 2000 Hz (-trend = 0.05), 3000 Hz (-trend < 0.01), 4000 Hz (-trend = 0.02), and 8000 Hz (-trend < 0.01); between PFHxS and hearing impairment at 500 Hz (-trend = 0.04), 1000 Hz (-trend = 0.03), and 2000 Hz (-trend < 0.01). However, some of the findings were not significant when only comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of PFASs. In conclusion, several background serum PFASs are positively correlated with hearing impairment in the United States adult population.
尽管研究表明，全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）是潜在的环境性耳毒性物质，但流行病学研究仍很有限。本研究进行了一项横断面研究，以重新检验 PFAS 与听力损伤之间的关联。数据来自 1999-2000 年、2003-2006 年、2009-2012 年和 2015-2016 年的国家健康和营养检查调查（NHANES）。在血清样本中测量了全氟辛酸（PFOA）、全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）、全氟己烷磺酸（PFHxS）和全氟壬酸（PFNA）。参与者按每个 PFAS 的四分位数进行分组。进行空气传导纯音测听。听力损伤（1：是，0：否）定义为在较差耳的 500、1000、2000、4000 和 8000 Hz 处的听力阈值超过 25 dB。我使用具有逻辑链接和二进制分布的广义线性混合模型评估血清 PFAS 与听力损伤之间的关系。使用每个四分位数中的血清 PFAS 中位数作为连续变量，对血清 PFAS 四分位数之间的线性趋势进行检验。在调整年龄、性别、体重指数、教育程度、种族群体和家庭收入后，我发现 PFOA 与 2000 Hz 处的听力损伤呈正相关（<0.01）和 3000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.01）；PFOS 与 500 Hz 处的听力损伤呈负相关（<0.01）、2000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.0001）和 3000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.01）；PFNA 与 2000 Hz 处的听力损伤呈负相关（<0.01）、3000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.01）、4000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.01）和 8000 Hz 处的听力损伤（<0.01）；PFHxS 与 500 Hz 处的听力损伤呈负相关（<0.01）、1000 Hz 处的听力损伤呈负相关（<0.01）和 2000 Hz 处的听力损伤呈负相关（<0.01）。然而，当仅比较 PFAS 最高四分位数与最低四分位数时，部分发现并不显著。总之，在美国成年人群中，几种背景血清 PFAS 与听力损伤呈正相关。
