The exposure of adolescents to perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated chemicals (PFAS) – present in numerous industrial and consumer products, such as some cosmetics – can negatively affect their reproductive health, according to a study led by the Basic and Oncology research group. Clinic of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA) and the University of Granada, within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) and the European Partnership for the Risk Assessment of Chemical Substances (PARC).
Perfluorinated compounds are popularly known as “forever chemicals” because they can remain in the environment for decades. Because they are found in a wide variety of everyday consumer products, from cosmetics to heat-resistant kitchen utensils, as well as in drinking water, air and soil, we are in constant contact with them.
The current study provides new insight into the risks associated with PFAS and highlights the importance of continued research on the relationship between PFAS and sex hormones, both female and male, especially in adolescents, a crucial period for development and reproductive health.
Chemical substances that alter hormonal balance
The new study by ibs.GRANADA and the University of Granada has had the collaboration of adolescents from Belgium, Slovakia and Spain, and has been carried out analyzing the effects of exposure to PFAS – both individual compounds and mixtures of PFAS– on the hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, which are responsible for regulating maturation and reproductive health processes, such as sexual development in adolescence. The levels of kisspeptin, a fundamental regulator for reproductive development, the onset of puberty and the menstrual cycle, were also evaluated.
Different effects of PFAS exposure were observed in girls and boys, suggesting that gender influences the manifestation of harm associated with these compounds.
To carry out the research, serum samples were taken from 733 adolescents from the three countries and the concentration of 7 PFAS was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. In addition, follicle stimulating hormones (FSH), total testosterone (TT), estradiol (E2), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and kisspeptin (isoform 54-kiss54) were measured by immunoassay. The associations between the 7 individual PFAS and the mixture of the three most common (PFOA, PFOS and PFNA), with reproductive markers, were then analyzed using different mathematical models.
The results have been published in Environmental Pollution and reveal that PFAS were associated with higher levels of kisspeptin, FSH, TT and with lower levels of SHBG in adolescent girls in all three countries, as well as with higher levels of kisspeptin and with lower TT levels in Slovak adolescents. When the mixture of all three PFAS was considered, higher levels of reproductive hormones were observed in women, but lower levels of TT and kisspeptin in male participants.
The most significant conclusion of this pioneering work is that the exposure of adolescents to perfluorinated compounds causes an alteration of hormonal balance that can have harmful consequences on their development and reproductive capacity. Different effects were observed in girls and boys, suggesting that gender plays a key role in the manifestation of damage associated with these compounds.
Granada scientists propose the routine use of effect biomarkers in human biomonitoring programs, such as those that Spain plans to implement immediately (Interministerial Commission on Human Biomonitoring), to better understand the effects related to exposure to environmental contaminants, and in this way way to adopt preventive measures in the most affected populations, such as adolescents.
Source: University of Granada (UGR)
