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. 2024 Mar:185:108454.
doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108454. Epub 2024 Feb 4.

Associations of dietary intake and longitudinal measures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in predominantly Hispanic young Adults: A multicohort study

Hailey E Hampson  1 , Elizabeth Costello  1 , Douglas I Walker  2 , Hongxu Wang  1 , Brittney O Baumert  1 , Damaskini Valvi  2 , Sarah Rock  1 , Dean P Jones  3 , Michael I Goran  4 , Frank D Gilliland  1 , David V Conti  1 , Tanya L Alderete  5 , Zhanghua Chen  1 , Leda Chatzi  1 , Jesse A Goodrich  6
Affiliations

Associations of dietary intake and longitudinal measures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in predominantly Hispanic young Adults: A multicohort study

Hailey E Hampson et al. Environ Int. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pollutants linked to adverse health effects. Diet is an important source of PFAS exposure, yet it is unknown how diet impacts longitudinal PFAS levels.

Objective: To determine if dietary intake and food sources were associated with changes in blood PFAS concentrations among Hispanic young adults at risk of metabolic diseases.

Methods: Predominantly Hispanic young adults from the Children's Health Study who underwent two visits (CHS; n = 123) and young adults from NHANES 2013-2018 who underwent one visit (n = 604) were included. Dietary data at baseline was collected using two 24-hour dietary recalls to measure individual foods and where foods were prepared/consumed (home/restaurant/fast-food). PFAS were measured in blood at both visits in CHS and cross-sectionally in NHANES. In CHS, multiple linear regression assessed associations of baseline diet with longitudinal PFAS; in NHANES, linear regression was used.

Results: In CHS, all PFAS except PFDA decreased across visits (all p < 0.05). In CHS, A 1-serving higher tea intake was associated with 24.8 %, 16.17 %, and 12.6 % higher PFHxS, PFHpS, and PFNA at follow-up, respectively (all p < 0.05). A 1-serving higher pork intake was associated with 13.4 % higher PFOA at follow-up (p < 0.05). Associations were similar in NHANES, including unsweetened tea, hot dogs, and processed meats. For food sources, in CHS each 200-gram increase in home-prepared food was associated with 0.90 % and 1.6 % lower PFOS at baseline and follow-up, respectively, and in NHANES was associated with 0.9 % lower PFDA (all p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Results suggest that beverage consumption habits and food preparation are associated with differences in PFAS levels in young adults. This highlights the importance of diet in determining PFAS exposure and the necessity of public monitoring of foods and beverages for PFAS contamination.

Keywords: Diet; Food packaging; Food sources; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Feature expression heatmap of associations between 46 food items in CHS (N = 124 at baseline, N = 88 at follow-up) (A) and 54 food items in NHANES (n = 604) (B) with PFAS concentrations, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and parental education. For NHANES, analyses were further adjusted for NHANES cycle. All variables are scaled and PFAS are additionally log transformed. Estimates interpreted as 1 standard deviation increase in intake of food item was associated with a 1 standard deviation increase in log PFAS concentrations for baseline, follow up and cross-sectional effect estimates.. * p < 0.05, ** adjusted p < 0.05.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Associations of foods prepared at home with PFOS concentration in CHS at A. baseline and B. follow-up. A 200 g serving increase in consumption of home prepared foods was associated with a 0.009 (p = 0.049) unit decrease in log PFOS at baseline and a 0.016 (p = 0.002) unit decrease in log PFOS at follow up in CHS.
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