Danish Study Allegedly Links PFAS Exposure to Increased Miscarriage Risk

A study involving 2,874 pregnant women enrolled in the Odense Child Cohort has noted “significant associations” between serum concentrations of perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFASs) and miscarriage. Tina Kold Jensen, et al., “Association between Perfluorinated Compound Exposure and Miscarriage in Danish Pregnant Women,” PLOS One, April 2015. According to the study, two types of PFASs—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanoic sulfate (PFOS)—widely used in consumer products and food packaging for their stain-, grease- and water resistance properties are now being replaced with newer PFASs such as perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), which have shorter elimination half lives in humans.

In particular, researchers report that women in the highest tertile for PFNA and PFDA exposure in pregnancy “had odds ratios of 16.5 percent … and 3.71 percent, respectively, as compared to the lowest tertile.” Though these associations still require confirmation, the study authors warn that their findings “are of potential public health importance, as all pregnant women were exposed to PFAS compounds.”

Issue 563