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
. 2024 Mar 20:917:170459.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170459. Epub 2024 Jan 28.

Prenatal and perinatal exposure to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contaminated drinking water impacts offspring neurobehavior and development

Affiliations

Prenatal and perinatal exposure to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)-contaminated drinking water impacts offspring neurobehavior and development

Melissa J Marchese et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent organic pollutants ubiquitous in the environment and humans. In-utero PFAS exposure is associated with numerous adverse health impacts. However, little is known about how prenatal PFAS mixture exposure affects offspring's neurobehavioral function. This study aims to determine the causal relationship between in-utero PFAS mixture exposure and neurobehavioral changes in Sprague-Dawley rat offspring. Dams were exposed via drinking water to the vehicle (control), an environmentally relevant PFAS mixture, or a high-dose PFAS mixture. The environmentally relevant mixture was formulated to resemble measured tap water levels in Pittsboro, NC, USA (10 PFAS compounds; sum PFAS =758.6 ng/L). The high-dose PFAS load was 3.8 mg/L (5000×), within the range of exposures in the experimental literature. Exposure occurred seven days before mating until birth. Following exposure to PFAS-laden water or the vehicle during fetal development, neurobehavioral toxicity was assessed in male and female offspring with a battery of motor, cognitive, and affective function tests as juveniles, adolescents, and adults. Just before weaning, the environmentally relevant exposure group had smaller anogenital distances compared to the vehicle and high-dose groups on day 17, and males in the environmentally relevant exposure group demonstrated lower weights than the high-dose group on day 21 (p < 0.05). Reflex development delays were seen in negative geotaxis acquisition for both exposure groups compared to vehicle-exposed controls (p = 0.009). Our post-weaning behavioral measures of anxiety, depression, and memory were not found to be affected by maternal PFAS exposure. In adolescence (week five) and adulthood (week eight), the high PFAS dose significantly attenuated typical sex differences in locomotor activity. Maternal exposure to an environmentally relevant PFAS mixture produced developmental delays in the domains of pup weight, anogenital distance, and reflex acquisition for rat offspring. The high-dose PFAS exposure significantly decreased typical sex differences in locomotor activity.

Keywords: Anogenital distance; Locomotor hyperactivity; Neonatal reflex development; PFAS mixture; Rats; Weight.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 2021. Toxicological profile for perfluoroalkyls. Atlanta, Georgia. 10.15620/cdc:59198 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Albrecht D, Ittermann T, Thamm M, Grabe H-J, Bahls M, Völzke H, 2020. The association between thyroid function biomarkers and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sci Rep 10, 18285. 10.1038/s41598-020-75228-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aldridge JE, Levin ED, Seidler FJ, Slotkin TA, 2005. Developmental Exposure of Rats to Chlorpyrifos Leads to Behavioral Alterations in Adulthood, Involving Serotonergic Mechanisms and Resembling Animal Models of Depression. Environ Health Perspect 113, 527–531. 10.1289/ehp.7867 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Apelberg BJ, Goldman LR, Calafat AM, Herbstman JB, Kuklenyik Z, Heidler J, Needham LL, Halden RU, Witter FR, 2007. Determinants of fetal exposure to polyfluoroalkyl compounds in Baltimore, Maryland. Environ Sci Technol. 10.1021/es0700911 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Austin ME, Kasturi BS, Barber M, Kannan K, MohanKumar PS, MohanKumar SMJ, 2003. Neuroendocrine effects of perflurooactane sulfonate in rats. Environ Health Perspect. 10.1289/ehp.6128 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources