Cited by 90Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchMetabolomics and Mass Spectrometry StudiesFluorine in Organic Chemistry

Metabolomics of Childhood Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances: A Cross-Sectional Study

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Kingsley, Samantha L., Walker, Douglas I., Calafat, Antonia M., Chen, Aimin, Papandonatos, George D., Xu, Yingying, Jones, Dean P., Lanphear, Bruce P. +2 more·2019·Metabolomics

Abstract

Introduction Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), synthetic and persistent chemicals used in commercial and industrial processes, are associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction and related risk factors including reduced birth weight, excess adiposity, and dyslipidemia. Identifying the metabolic changes induced by PFAS exposure could enhance our understanding of biological pathways underlying PFAS toxicity.Objective To identify metabolic alterations associated with serum concentrations of four PFAS in children using a metabolome-wide association study.Methods We performed untargeted metabolomic profiling by liquid chromatography with ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry, and separately quantified serum concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) for 114 8-year old children from Cincinnati, OH. We evaluated associations between each serum PFAS concentration and 16,097 metabolic features using linear regression adjusted for child age, sex, and race with a false discovery rate < 20%. We annotated PFAS-associated metabolites and conducted pathway enrichment analyses.Results Serum PFAS concentrations were associated with metabolic features annotated primarily as lipids and dietary factors. Biological pathways associated with all four PFAS included arginine, proline, aspartate, asparagine, and butanoate metabolism.Conclusions In this cross-sectional study, childhood serum PFAS concentrations were correlated with metabolic pathways related to energy production and catabolism. Future studies should determine whether these pathways mediate associations between PFAS exposure and childhood cardiometabolic health.

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  • Evidence is accumulating that PFAS exposure may impact neurodevelopmental trajectories and mental health.

    “Evidence is accumulating that PFAS exposure may impact neurodevelopmental trajectories and mental health.”

    From Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Healthcare: Environmental and Clinical Insights (2025) · cites this paper as [91]

    The Introduction and Discussion describe associations between PFAS exposure, metabolic pathways, and cardiometabolic outcomes in children; they do not address neurodevelopmental trajectories or mental health. Searches for those terms and related cognitive or behavioral outcomes found no passage supporting the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.73)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Associations have been reported with ADHD, lower cognitive scores, and increased risk of depression, possibly mediated through oxidative stress and neurotransmitter pathway disruption.

    “Associations have been reported with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), lower cognitive scores, and increased risk of depression, possibly mediated through oxidative stress and neurotransmitter pathway disruption [78,91].”

    From Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Healthcare: Environmental and Clinical Insights (2025) · cites this paper as [91]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports associations between PFAS exposure and metabolic pathways, particularly amino acid and lipid metabolism. Neither those passages nor searches for ADHD, cognitive scores, depression, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter pathways establish the claimed health associations or proposed mediation. (LLM, conf=0.74)

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Authors
Kingsley, S. L., Walker, D. I., Calafat, A. M., Chen, A., Papandonatos, G. D., Xu, Y., Jones, D. P., Lanphear, B. P., Pennell, K. D., & Braun, J. M.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
  • University of Cincinnati (US)
  • Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (US)
  • Emory University (US)
  • Simon Fraser University (CA)
Corresponding author
Braun, Joseph M.
Venue
Metabolomics
Published
2019-06-21
Volume
15
Issue
7
Pages
95-95
ISSN
  • 1573-3882 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-3890
OpenAlex
W2950326516
Cited by
90
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
FWCI
4.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Metabolomics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (1s10od018006-01, 5p42es013660-14)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES020349, P01ES011261, R01ES025214, R01ES028277, P30ES019776, P30ES023515, U2CES026561, P42ES013660),)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
Keywords
perfluorinated compounds, PFAS exposure, childhood, serum metabolites, metabolome-wide association study, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOS, perfluorononanoic acid, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, butanoate metabolism, cardiometabolic health, energy metabolism
MeSH terms
Caprylates, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Energy Metabolism, Environmental Exposure, Female, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Lipids, Male, Sulfonic Acids, Linear Models, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Metabolomics

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