Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021;33(1):69.
doi: 10.1186/s12302-021-00508-9. Epub 2021 Jun 6.

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure and association with sex hormone concentrations: Results from the NHANES 2015-2016

Xin Xie  1 , Xueqiong Weng  1 , Shan Liu  1 , Jingmin Chen  1 , Xinrong Guo  1 , Xinyu Gao  1 , Qiaoyuan Fei  1 , Guang Hao  1 , Chunxia Jing  1   2 , Liping Feng  3
Affiliations

Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure and association with sex hormone concentrations: Results from the NHANES 2015-2016

Xin Xie et al. Environ Sci Eur. 2021.

Abstract

Background: There is increasing global concern regarding the health impacts of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are emerging environmental endocrine disruptors. Results from previous epidemiological studies on the associations between PFAS exposure and sex hormone levels are inconsistent.

Objective: We examined the associations between serum PFAS compounds (PFDeA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS) and sex hormones, including total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), estrogen (E), and serum hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, PFDeA, PFOS, and PFHxS exposures were significantly associated with increased serum testosterone concentrations in males. PFDeA, PFOA, and PFOS exposures were positively correlated with FT levels in 20-49 years old women while PFOS exposure was negatively associated with TT levels in 12-19 years old girls. PFAS exposure was negatively associated with estradiol levels including: PFDeA in all females, PFHxS, PFNA, PFOS, and PFOA in 12-19 years old girls, PFNA in women above 50 years old, and PFOA in 12-19 years old boys while PFDeA and PFOS exposures were positively associated with estradiol levels in these boys. n-PFOS exposure was positively associated with SHBG levels in men older than 20 and in all females.

Conclusions: Using a large cohort of males and females aged from 12-80, we found that PFAS exposure appears to disrupt sex hormones in a gender-, age-, and compound-specific manner. Future work is warranted to clarify the causality and mechanisms involved.

Keywords: NHANES; PFAS; SHGB; estradiol; testosterone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow chart of data merge.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bach CC, Vested A, Jorgensen KT, Bonde JP, Henriksen TB, Toft G, 2016. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and measures of human fertility: a systematic review. Crit Rev Toxicol 46, 735–755. - PubMed
    1. Barrett ES, Chen C, Thurston SW, Haug LS, Sabaredzovic A, Fjeldheim FN, Frydenberg H, Lipson SF, Ellison PT, Thune I, 2015. Perfluoroalkyl substances and ovarian hormone concentrations in naturally cycling women. Fertil Steril 103, 1261–1270 e1263. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Behr AC, Lichtenstein D, Braeuning A, Lampen A, Buhrke T, 2018. Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) affect neither estrogen and androgen receptor activity nor steroidogenesis in human cells in vitro. Toxicol Lett 291, 51–60. - PubMed
    1. Biegel LB, Liu RC, Hurtt ME, Cook JC, 1995. Effects of ammonium perfluorooctanoate on Leydig cell function: in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo studies. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 134, 18–25. - PubMed
    1. Blake BE, Pinney SM, Hines EP, Fenton SE, Ferguson KK, 2018. Associations between longitudinal serum perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) levels and measures of thyroid hormone, kidney function, and body mass index in the Fernald Community Cohort. Environ Pollut 242, 894–904. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources