Personal Care Product Use and Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Pregnant and Postpartum Women and Adolescents in the United States and Canada

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous chemicals routinely detected in personal care products (PCPs), associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Few studies have quantified the contribution of PCPs on PFAS concentrations. This study evaluates PCP use and PFAS in maternal-plasma, human-milk, and adolescent-serum. METHOD: We used 2 pregnancy cohorts; MIREC (2008-2011) and HOME (2003-2006) enrolled people from 10 Canadian cities and Cincinnati, Ohio, respectively. Participants reported frequency of PCP use in MIREC and past 24-hour in HOME. In MIREC, we quantified perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxS) in maternal-plasma (N=1,940) and PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) in human-milk (N=664). In HOME, we measured PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA in the serum of 11–14-year-old adolescents (N=193). Using linear regression, we estimated percent differences in PFAS concentrations with PCP use, adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: In MIREC, higher use of several PCPs was associated with higher maternal-plasma and human-milk PFOA and PFOS concentrations. For example, people using hair spray or gel daily had 11.7% (95%CI: 4.9%-18.8%) higher maternal-plasma PFOA concentrations than people not using hair spray or gel. In human-milk, higher use of several PCPs was also related to higher PFNA and PFHxS concentrations, with people who wore makeup daily having human-milk PFHxS levels 32.6% (95%CI: 6.4%-65.2%) higher those who never wore makeup. In HOME, use of several PCPs was associated with lower PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS in adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest some PCPs contribute to higher maternal-plasma and human-milk PFAS concentrations. PCP use was not associated with higher PFAS levels in adolescents. Future studies could examine if associations between PCP use and PFAS depend on country, child age, timing and frequency of PCP use, or product formulation. Funding: R01-ES028277, R01-ES031621, R01-ES033252, R01-ES032836.