Role of early-life PFAS exposure in potentiating the onset of atopy and asthma

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are organic pollutants termed forever chemicals due to their persistence in the environment. PFAS are found in drinking water that supplies >5 million Swedes.

Early-life PFAS exposure alters sphingolipid levels, which are a broad class of important immunomodulating molecules whose dysregulation is associated with onset of atopic disease and asthma. We will quantify PFAS and sphingolipid levels in a birth cohort of 330 mother-child dyads from 5 regions in Sweden.

PFAS quantification will include next-generation PFAS replacement compounds (e.g., GenX), providing important novel data for risk assessment. Levels will be measured in blood and breastmilk from the mothers, and in blood from the infants at multiple timepoints. Metabolomics-based molecular profiling will be performed to screen for metabolic associations with PFAS exposure.

The cohort includes 5 regions of Sweden stratified by Low and High levels of PFAS in the drinking water.

PFAS levels in the High group are ~15-18-fold greater than the Low group, and an average of 16-fold greater than recommended exposure levels.

Findings will be used to determine quantitative exposure-response relationships for PFAS levels with onset of atopy and asthma, calculate the hazard ratios associated with PFAS exposure and atopy and asthma, and identify biomarkers of susceptibility to PFAS exposure. These findings will be useful in establishing safe PFAS exposure levels in the Swedish population.