Association between prenatal exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and early language development in the...

The relationship between prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and child neurodevelopment remains inconclusive, and few studies have investigated associations of PFAS exposure with language development. This study drew on data from seven U.S.-based Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohorts to investigate associations between prenatal PFAS exposures and language development in early childhood.

We quantified concentrations of four PFAS in maternal plasma or serum during pregnancy. Language development was assessed using the communication scale from the Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) in children ages 1.5-5 years (n = 1503) and the NIH Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT) in children ages 3-5 years (n = 399). Associations between individual PFAS and language outcomes were examined in multivariable linear and logistic regression models. PFAS mixture was examined using quantile g-computation.

Overall and in sex-specific analyses, we did not observe associations between individual PFAS biomarkers and language development. The PFAS mixture showed no significant associations with ASQ®-3 communication z-scores (ψ = -0.04; 95 % CI: -0.86, 0.78) or PVT t-scores (ψ = 0.35; 95 % CI: -1.14, 1.83). Sex-specific results showed a small but statistically significant negative association with ASQ®-3 communication scores in females (ψ = -0.46; 95 % CI: -0.88, -0.05; p = 0.03) and positive, albeit not statistically significant, associations with PVT t-scores in males (ψ = 0.27; 95 % CI: -1.84, 2.38) and females (ψ = 0.55; 95 % CI: -1.81, 2.92).

Prenatal concentrations of individual PFAS or their mixture were not associated with ASQ®-3 communication domain scores or PVT t-scores.