Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and Maternally Reported Developmental Milestones in Infancy

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are fluorinated organic compounds present in the general population at low concentrations. Animal studies have shown that they may affect neuromuscular development at high concentrations. We investigated the association between plasma levels of PFOS and PFOA in pregnant women and motor and mental developmental milestones of their children. We randomly selected 1,400 pairs of pregnant women and their children from the Danish National Birth Cohort. PFOS and PFOA were measured in maternal blood samples taken in early pregnancy. Apgar score was abstracted from the National Hospital Discharge Register in Denmark. Developmental milestones were reported by mothers using highly structured questionnaires when the children were around 6 months and 18 months of age. Mothers who had higher levels of PFOA and PFOS gave birth to children who had similar Apgar scores and reached virtually all of the development milestones at the same time as children born to mothers with lower exposure levels. Children who were born to mothers with higher PFOS levels were slightly more likely to start sitting without support at a later age. We found no convincing associations between developmental milestones in early childhood and levels of PFOA or PFOS as measured in maternal plasma early in pregnancy.