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Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: a multi-cohort study

Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: a multi-cohort study
Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: a multi-cohort study

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 2 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 2 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.

Adolescents, Bone mineral density, Children, Endocrine disruptors, Environmental epidemiology, Perfluoroalkyl substances
0013-9351
Beglarian, Emily
16103215-e636-4eaf-add9-54815816bce3
Costello, Elizabeth
c35dcb28-5a9c-4e89-a209-74b74102ec75
Walker, Douglas I.
aa5c470b-7546-4989-a055-3bea31d26b3e
Rubbo, Bruna
dc31cd48-3d84-41ab-a8b8-351c9914dca4
et al.
Beglarian, Emily
16103215-e636-4eaf-add9-54815816bce3
Costello, Elizabeth
c35dcb28-5a9c-4e89-a209-74b74102ec75
Walker, Douglas I.
aa5c470b-7546-4989-a055-3bea31d26b3e
Rubbo, Bruna
dc31cd48-3d84-41ab-a8b8-351c9914dca4

Beglarian, Emily, Costello, Elizabeth and Walker, Douglas I. , et al. (2023) Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: a multi-cohort study. Environmental Research, 244, [117611]. (doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.117611).

Record type: Article

Abstract

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 2 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 2 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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Accepted/In Press date: 5 November 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 December 2023
Published date: 20 December 2023
Keywords: Adolescents, Bone mineral density, Children, Endocrine disruptors, Environmental epidemiology, Perfluoroalkyl substances

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 496858
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/496858
ISSN: 0013-9351
PURE UUID: 9bd7082f-098b-4687-abb4-5c9f6470108b
ORCID for Bruna Rubbo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1629-8601

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Date deposited: 08 Jan 2025 11:15
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:13

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Contributors

Author: Emily Beglarian
Author: Elizabeth Costello
Author: Douglas I. Walker
Author: Bruna Rubbo ORCID iD
Corporate Author: et al.

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