Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on January 28, 2009
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/den490
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Maternal levels of perfluorinated chemicals and subfecundity
1 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California – Los Angeles, PO Box 951772, 71-254 CHS, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA 2 International Epidemiology Institute, 1455 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA 3 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA 4 Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Vennelyst Boulevard 6, DK 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
5 Correspondence address. Tel: +1-310-825-5373; Fax: +1-310-206-6039; E-mail: cfei{at}ucla.edu
BACKGROUND: Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are ubiquitous man-made compounds that are possible hormonal disruptors. We examined whether exposure to these compounds may decrease fecundity in humans.
METHODS: Plasma levels of PFOS and PFOA were measured at weeks 4–14 of pregnancy among 1240 women from the Danish National Birth Cohort recruited from 1996 to 2002. For this pregnancy, women reported time to pregnancy (TTP) in five categories (<1, 1–2, 3–5, 6–12 and >12 months). Infertility was defined as having a TTP of >12 months or received infertility treatment to establish this pregnancy.
RESULTS: Longer TTP was associated with higher maternal levels of PFOA and PFOS (P < 0.001). Compared with women in the lowest exposure quartile, the adjusted odds of infertility increased by 70–134 and 60–154% among women in the higher three quartiles of PFOS and PFOA, respectively. Fecundity odds ratios (FORs) were also estimated using Cox discrete-time models. The adjusted FORs were virtually identical for women in the three highest exposure groups of PFOS (FOR = 0.70, 0.67 and 0.74, respectively) compared with the lowest quartile. A linear-like trend was observed for PFOA (FOR = 0.72, 0.73 and 0.60 for three highest quartiles versus lowest quartile). When all quartiles were included in a likelihood ratio test, the trends were significant for PFOS and PFOA (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that PFOA and PFOS exposure at plasma levels seen in the general population may reduce fecundity; such exposure levels are common in developed countries.
Key words: maternal blood/time to pregnancy/fecundity/perfluorooctanoate/perfluorooctane sulfonate
Submitted on September 12, 2008; resubmitted on November 7, 2008; accepted on December 18, 2008.
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  C. Fei and J. Olsen RE: "SERUM LEVELS OF PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID AND PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONATE AND PREGNANCY OUTCOME" Am. J. Epidemiol., November 18, 2009; (2009) kwp384v1. [Full Text] [PDF]
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