Serum concentrations of legacy, alternative, and precursor per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: a descriptive analysis of adult female participants in the MIREC-ENDO study.

MM Borghese, A Ward, S MacPherson, KE Manz, E Atlas, M Fisher, TE Arbuckle, JM Braun, MF Bouchard, J Ashley-Martin. Environmental Health 2024 Jun 10;23(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s12940-024-01085-z

Question: What are the levels of the “forever chemicals”, otherwise known as PFAS, in women who participated in MIREC-ENDO (2018-2021) ?

What did the researchers do:
Blood samples from 289 MIREC-ENDO participants were analyzed at a lab for 40 different kinds of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). The researchers then tried to identify the characteristics of women that had higher or lower levels of PFAS.

What did they find:
Of the 40 measured PFAS, 17 were detected in more than half of the samples, and 7 in almost everyone ( 97%). Those PFAS with the highest levels were PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, and PFHxS. Women who had 3 or more children (≥ 3 vs. ≤ 1) had breastfed longer in their lifetime ( 4 years vs. ≤ 9 months), or had recently had a pregnancy (≤ 4 years vs. 8 years) tended to have lower concentrations of PFOA and PFHxS (2-times lower average concentrations). Concentrations of PFOA were higher among women who self-identified their race as "white”. Concentrations did not vary by age, education, household income, body mass index, or menopausal status.

What does this mean:
This is the first time some of these PFAS chemicals have been measured in Canada. The findings show that exposure may be widespread, though at quite low levels for some chemicals. The results agree with previous studies showing that pregnancy and breastfeeding are likely ways to remove PFAS from the body.

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