Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: A multi-cohort study
By Emily Beglarian, Elizabeth Costello, Douglas I Walker, Hongxu Wang, Tanya L Alderete, Zhanghua Chen, Damaskini Valvi, Brittney O Baumert, Sarah Rock, Bruna Rubbo, Max T Aung, Frank D Gilliland, Michael I Goran, Dean P Jones, Rob McConnell, Sandrah P Eckel, David V Conti, Jesse A Goodrich, and Lida Chatzi
Environ Res
November 23, 2023
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117611
Background
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may impair bone development in adolescence, which impacts life-long bone health. No previous studies have examined prospective associations of individual PFAS and their mixture with bone mineral density (BMD) changes in Hispanic young persons, a population at high risk of osteoporosis in adulthood.
Objectives
To examine associations of individual PFAS and PFAS mixtures with longitudinal changes in BMD in an adolescent Hispanic cohort and examine generalizability of findings in a mixed-ethnicity young adult cohort (58.4% Hispanic).
Methods
Overweight/obese adolescents from the Study of Latino Adolescents at Risk of Type 2 Diabetes (SOLAR; n = 304; mean follow-up = 1.4 years) and young adults from the Southern California Children's Health Study (CHS; n = 137; mean follow-up = 4.1 years) were included in this study. Plasma PFAS were measured at baseline and dual x-ray absorptiometry scans were performed at baseline and follow-up to measure BMD. We estimated longitudinal associations between BMD and five PFAS via separate covariate-adjusted linear mixed effects models, and between BMD and the PFAS mixture via quantile g-computation.
Results
In SOLAR adolescents, baseline plasma perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) was associated with longitudinal changes in BMD. Each doubling of PFOS was associated with an average -0.003 g/cm difference in change in trunk BMD per year over follow-up (95% CI: -0.005, -0.0002). Associations with PFOS persisted in CHS young adults, where each doubling of plasma PFOS was associated with an average -0.032 g/cm difference in total BMD at baseline (95% CI -0.062, -0.003), though longitudinal associations were non-significant. We did not find associations of other PFAS with BMD; associations of the PFAS mixture with BMD outcomes were primarily negative though non-significant.
Discussion
PFOS exposure was associated with lower BMD in adolescence and young adulthood, important periods for bone development, which may have implications on future bone health and risk of osteoporosis in adulthood.
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