Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in House Dust and Blood Serum of Pregnant People and their Relationships with Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Factors
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become ubiquitous in the environment and are linked to substantial negative health effects. It is important to understand the contribution of house dust to PFAS exposure and what factors influence PFAS in dust to build our understanding of indoor PFAS exposure.
This investigation measured sixteen PFAS in 104 paired blood and dust specimens archived from the National Children’s Study (NCS) Vanguard Study and characterized patterns of exposure for these participants. The relationships between serum and dust PFAS levels were characterized for the sixteen PFAS and the summed concentration of PFAS. Survey data was used to elucidate associations between lifestyle factors, sociodemographic factors, and PFAS levels in participants’ house dust.
Levels of PFAS were detected in at least 50% of samples for four PFAS in serum and nine in dust. The geometric mean concentrations in serum ranged from 0.0062 ng/mL (PFPeS) to 4.1 ng/mL (PFOS) and 0.077 ng/g (PFNS) to 17 ng/g (PFOS) in dust. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) levels and total PFAS levels in dust were significantly associated with serum levels. Higher levels of one or more PFAS in dust were significantly linked to several sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics.
This research draws important connections between PFAS exposure through dust and biomonitoring data, and links exposure to important characteristics of a vulnerable population—pregnant people and their children.