A new study, conducted by researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and published in Environmental Health Perspectives, reveals that babies born to mothers who have been exposed to PFCs (polyfluoroalkyl compounds) tend to be smaller than normal when they are born, and larger than normal by the time they reach 20 months old.

PFCs are environmental chemicals which are used when fluoropolymers are made. They can be found in common household items, such as clothes, furniture and non-stick pans. Humans are exposed to these compounds regularly and they are prevalent in the environment. Human sera, breast milk and cord blood have all shown traces of PFCs in certain patients.

This trial included 447 girls from the UK and their mothers who were involved in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which is a well-known health project that has been going on since the 90s.

The experts discovered that the girls who had been exposed to PFCs more were in the 43% range at birth, weighing less than normal. By the time they were 20 months old these babies were in the 58% range, weighing more than most 20 month olds, indicating that these children may be obese later in life.

Michele Marcus, MPH, PhD, lead author of the study, a professor of epidemiology in Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and the assistant program director at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research commented:

“Previous animal and human research suggests prenatal exposures to PFCs may have harmful effects on fetal and postnatal growth.

Our findings are consistent with these studies and emerging evidence that chemicals in our environment are contributing to obesity and diabetes and demonstrate that this trajectory is set very early in life for those exposed.”

Marcus says that a study from Denmark revealed that women who had contact with PFCs while they were in the womb had an increased risk of being overweight by the time they were 20 years old.

Studies on mice have discovered that being exposed to PFCs in the womb results in higher insulin levels and an increased risk of obesity during adult years.

The team signaled in on the 3 most common types of PFCs:

  • perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)
  • perfluorooctanoate (PFOA)
  • perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS)

Maternal serum concentrations of PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS were measured while the women were pregnant and the weight and length of the girls was measured when they were 2, 9 and 20 months old.

The researchers analyzed the link between prenatal exposure to PFC and weight changes throughout the period from birth to 20 months and determined that if exposed to PFCs, the babies did not grow normally – with low weight at birth, and extra weight at 20 months.

Written by Christine Kearney