Reductions in Serum Lipids with a 4-year Decline in Serum Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nicola Fitz-Simon, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Tony Fletcher, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Michael I. Luster, West Virginia University; Nelson Steenland, Emory University; Antonia M. Calafat, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kayoko Kato, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Ben Armstrong, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-07
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0b013e31829443ee
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Epidemiology
• ISSN: 1044-3983
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 569
• End Page: 576
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by The C8 Class Action Settlement Agreement.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Environmental Sciences; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Background: Several epidemiological cross-sectional studies have found positive associations between serum concentrations of lipids and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, or C8). A longitudinal study should be less susceptible to biases from uncontrolled confounding or reverse causality. Methods: We investigated the association between within-individual changes in serum PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and changes in serum lipid levels (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides) over a 4.4-year period. The study population consisted of 560 adults living in parts of Ohio and West Virginia where public drinking water had been contaminated with PFOA. They had participated in a cross-sectional study in 2005–2006, and were followed up in 2010, by which time exposure to PFOA had been substantially reduced. Results: Overall serum concentrations of PFOA and PFOS fell by half from initial geometric means of 74.8 and 18.5 ng/mL, respectively, with little corresponding change in LDL cholesterol (mean increase 1.8%, standard deviation 26.6%). However, there was a tendency for people with greater declines in serum PFOA or PFOS to have greater LDL decrease. For a person whose serum PFOA fell by half, the predicted fall in LDL cholesterol was 3.6% (95% confidence interval = 1.5–5.7%). The association with a decline in PFOS was even stronger, with a 5% decrease in LDL (2.5–7.4%). Conclusions: Our findings from this longitudinal study support previous evidence from cross-sectional studies of positive associations between PFOA and PFOS in serum and LDL cholesterol.