The association between blood PFAS concentrations and clinical biochemical measures of organ function and metabolism in participants of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS)
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2022-02-23
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Çakmak, Sabit
- Lukina, Anna
- Karthikeyan, Subramanian
- Atlas, Ella
- Dales, Robert Edgar
- Publisher
- ScienceDirect
Abstract
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous and may persist in human tissue for several years. Only a small proportion of PFAS have been studied for human health effects. We tested the association between human blood levels of six PFAS and several clinical measures of organ and metabolic function in a nationally representative sample of 6768 participants aged 3–79 years old who participated in the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Cross-sectional associations were assessed by generalized linear mixed models incorporating survey-specific sampling weights. An increase in perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) equivalent to the magnitude of its geometric mean (GM) of 2.0 μg/L was associated with percentage (95% CI) increases in serum enzymes reflecting liver function: aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 3.7 (1.1, 6.4), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) 11.8 (2.5, 21.8), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 3.2 (0.5, 5.9), and bilirubin 3.6 (2.7, 4.5). A GM increase in perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) of 0.2 μg/L was positively associated with percentage increases in GGT, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total cholesterol, and calcium with respective increases of 15.5 (2.2, 30.4), 7.0 (1.0, 13.2), 10.7 (5.5, 16.1), 2.8 (0.2, 5.3), and 0.8 (0.3, 1.3). PFOA, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), PFDA and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were positively associated with GGT. All six congeners were positively associated with at least one biomarker of lipid metabolism, and 5 of 6, PFOA, PFOS, PFDA, perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and PFNA were positively associated with serum calcium. Exposure to selected PFAS is associated with clinical blood tests reflecting metabolism and the function of several organ systems. These relatively small changes may possibly indicate early pathology that is clinically inapparent and may possibly be of significance in a general population or in individuals exposed to very high levels of PFAS.
Plain language summary
Health Canada makes evidence-based decisions concerning the human health impacts from environmental exposure. There is little Canadian health-related information available on PFAS. In The current study we analyzed human health effects from exposure to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are found abundantly in the environment and may stay in human tissues and organs for a very long time. The associations between six PFAS and several clinical measures of organ function were tested using the nationally representative data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). Blood samples collected during CHMS cycles 1, 2 and 5 were used. PFAS were associated with measurements of liver and thyroid function. PFAS were also associated with glucose and lipid metabolism. Overall, our results show that PFAS exposure may influence several organ systems. Although the changes are relatively small, they may be of significance in a general population or in individuals exposed to very high levels of PFAS. The results of this study indicate the need for further studies to determine if these associations are causal.
Subject
- Health,
- Health and safety