Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Serum of 2 to 5 year-Old Children: Temporal Trends, Determinants, and Correlations with Maternal PFAS Concentrations

Young children may experience higher per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure than adults due to breastfeeding, higher dust ingestion rates, and frequent hand-to-mouth activities. We explored temporal trends and determinants of child serum PFAS concentrations and their correlations with paired maternal PFAS concentrations. From 2009 to 2017, we collected one blood sample from each of 541 children aged 2-5 years participating in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment (CHARGE) study and quantified 14 PFAS in serum. For nine frequently detected PFAS (>65% of samples), we performed multiple regression adjusting for potential determinants to estimate mean percent concentration changes. For a subset of 327 children, we also quantified nine PFAS in their mother's serum collected at the same visit and computed Spearman correlation coefficients (r(sp)) between maternal and child PFAS concentrations. During 2009-2017, child serum concentrations of all nine PFAS decreased by 6-25% annually. Several PFAS concentrations were higher among non-Hispanic white children and those with highly educated parents. Most maternal and child PFAS concentrations were moderately correlated (r(sp) = 0.13-0.39), with a strong correlation for N-methyl perfluorooctane sulfonamido acetic acid (r(sp) = 0.68). Breastfeeding duration appeared to contribute to higher child and lower maternal PFAS concentrations, resulting in relatively weak correlations between maternal and child PFAS concentrations for samples collected in early childhood. Considering that more than half of our study children had neurodevelopmental concerns, the generalizability of our findings might be limited.