THYROID FUNCTION, PFOA AND PFOS IN CHILDREN LIVING NEAR A CHEMICAL PLANT

Background and Aims: Altered thyroid hormone levels following exposure to perfluorocarbons (PFCs) have been found in some animal studies. Published epidemiological findings are not consistent and most prior studies have focused on adults. We investigated if concentrations of two PFCs, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), were associated with thyroid function among 10,725 children (aged 1-18 years) living near a Teflon manufacturing facility in the Mid-Ohio Valley, USA. Methods: Serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), total thyroxine (TT4), and T3 uptake were measured and free thyroxine index (FTI) was calculated as biomarkers of thyroid function during 2005-2006, at the same time as serum levels of PFCs were measured. We estimated modeled in utero PFOA concentrations. Child-mother pairing allowed maternal serum concentrations of PFOA estimated at pregnancy to be used as a proxy for in utero exposure to PFOA for 52% of children. We performed multivariate regression ana...