The T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in adults with high exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances from Ronneby, Sweden.

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been associated with impaired antibody levels after childhood vaccinations and immunosuppressive effects in animals. However, the in vivo effects of PFAS on antigen specific human T cell responses have not been investigated in adults. In Ronneby, Sweden, the drinking water of one of the water works was previously highly contaminated with primarily perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).

Overuse of analgesics can affect the fertility biomarker Anti-Müllerian Hormone in females. A translational study.

Background: Medication overuse headache is a prevalent secondary headache due to the overuse of analgesics, mainly over-the-counter analgesics. Over-the-counter analgesics have been associated with disrupted male endocrinology, while the effects on female endocrinology remain nearly unknown. The aim was to understand the effect of long-term analgesic exposure in females with medication overuse headache on Anti-Müllerian hormone, a surrogate measure of female fertility.

Pesticide exposure, birth size, and gestational age in the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica.

Purpose: To examine associations of prenatal biomarkers of pesticide exposure with birth size measures and length of gestation among newborns from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) birth cohort, Costa Rica.

Methods: We included 386 singleton liveborn newborns with data on birth size measures, length of gestation, and maternal urinary biomarkers of chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and 2, 4-D during pregnancy. We associated biomarkers of exposure with birth outcomes using multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models.

OMICs Signatures Linking Persistent Organic Pollutants to Cardiovascular Disease in the Swedish Mammography Cohort.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) development may be linked to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including organochlorine compounds (OCs) and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). To explore underlying mechanisms, we investigated metabolites, proteins, and genes linking POPs with CVD risk. We used data from a nested case-control study on myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke from the Swedish Mammography Cohort - Clinical ( = 657 subjects).

Evaporation of serum after long-term biobank storage: A chemical analysis of maternal serum from a large Danish pregnancy screening registry.

Background: Relying on freezer stored biospecimens is preferred in epidemiolocal studies exploring environmental pregnancy exposures and later offspring health. Storage duration may increase the pre-analytical variability, potentially adding measurement uncertainty. We investigated evaporation of maternal serum after long-term biobank storage using ions (sodium, Na+; chloride, Cl-) recognized for stability and relatively narrow normal biological reference ranges in human serum.

High Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine-an Observational Study in Adults from Ronneby, Sweden.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used, environmentally ubiquitous, and stable chemicals that have been associated with lower vaccine-induced antibody responses in children; however, data on adults are limited. The drinking water from one of the two waterworks in Ronneby, Sweden, was heavily contaminated for decades with PFAS from firefighting foams, primarily perfluorohexane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 offered a unique opportunity to investigate antibody responses to primary vaccination in adults who had been exposed to PFAS.

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in early pregnancy and risk of cerebral palsy in children.

Background: Most cerebral palsy (CP) cases have an unexplained etiology, but a role for environmental exposures has been suggested. One purported environmental risk factor is exposure to endocrine-disrupting pollutants specifically per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Objectives: We investigated the association between prenatal PFAS exposures and CP in Swedish children.

Association of endocrine disrupting chemicals exposure with human chorionic gonadotropin concentrations in pregnancy.

Background: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is produced by the placenta and plays an essential role in the maintenance of pregnancy. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have the potential to interfere with functions related to the production and secretion of hCG; however associations between exposure to EDCs and hCG concentrations in humans remain to be elucidated.

Objectives: To investigate the association of urinary, serum and plasma concentrations of EDCs during pregnancy with serum hCG concentrations.

Association of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances with thyroid homeostasis during pregnancy in the SELMA study.

Objectives: To investigate the association of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during early pregnancy with markers of the maternal thyroid system.

Methods: Serum concentrations of seven PFAS as well as thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free and total thyroxine (FT4 and TT4), free and total triiodothyronine (FT3 and TT3) were measured in pregnant women in early pregnancy in the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy (SELMA) study. Outcomes were concentrations of TSH and thyroid hormones, FT4/FT3 or TT4/TT3 ratios, TSH/FT4 ratio as a marker of the negative feedback loop, TT4/FT4 or TT3/FT3 ratios as markers of the binding of thyroid hormones to binding proteins.

Decreased sperm counts in Swedish users of oral tobacco.

Background: Smoke-free tobacco via moist oral snuff (snus) is used daily in more than 20% of Swedish men. Negative effects of cigarette smoking on sperm parameters are well documented, unlike for snuff, despite relevance also for other smoke-free nicotine products.

Objectives: We wanted to investigate whether reproductive parameters differed between users and non-users of snuff, and whether the amount of snuff and nicotine exposure mattered.

Determinants of serum half-lives for linear and branched perfluoroalkyl substances after long-term high exposure-A study in Ronneby, Sweden.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent substances with surfactant and repellent properties. Municipal drinking water contaminated with PFAS had been distributed for decades to one third of households in Ronneby, Sweden. The source was firefighting foam used in a nearby airfield since the mid-1980s.

Perfluoroalkyl substances influence DNA methylation in school-age children highly exposed through drinking water contaminated from firefighting foam: a cohort study in Ronneby, Sweden.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widespread synthetic substances with various adverse health effects. A potential mechanism of toxicity for PFASs is via epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation. Previous studies have evaluated associations between PFAS exposure and DNA methylation among newborns and adults.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Stroke: A Nested Case-Control Study in Sweden.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread and persistent pollutants that have been associated with elevated cholesterol levels. However, data on incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) is lacking.

Objectives: We investigated the association of exposure to PFAS with risk of myocardial infarction and stroke and, subsidiary, with baseline blood lipids.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine, and associations with sperm DNA fragmentation.

Background: Tobacco smoking has been reported to cause DNA fragmentation and has been suggested to cause mutations in spermatozoa. These effects have been ascribed to the action of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) present in the smoke. Simultaneously, DNA fragmentation has been associated with mutagenesis.

Arsenic exposure and biomarkers for oxidative stress and telomere length in indigenous populations in Bolivia.

Background: Women living in the Bolivian Andes are environmentally exposed to arsenic, yet there is scarce information about arsenic-related effects in this region. Several biomarkers for telomere length and oxidative stress (mitochondrial DNA copy number, mtDNAcn; 8-Oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine, 8-oxo-dG; and 4-hydroxy nonenal mercapturic acid, 4-HNE-MA) have been previously linked to arsenic, and some of which are prospective biomarkers for cancer risk.

Objective And Hypothesis: To evaluate associations between arsenic exposure and telomere length, mtDNAcn, 8-oxo-dG, and 4-HNE-MA in Bolivians.

Follicular fluid and blood levels of persistent organic pollutants and reproductive outcomes among women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are industrial chemicals resistant to degradation and have been shown to have adverse effects on reproductive health in wildlife and humans. Although regulations have reduced their levels, they are still ubiquitously present and pose a global concern. Here, we studied a cohort of 185 women aged 21-43 years with a median of 2 years of infertility who were seeking assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment at the Carl von Linné Clinic in Uppsala, Sweden.

Environmental exposures contribute to respiratory and allergic symptoms among women living in the banana growing regions of Costa Rica.

Objectives: This research evaluates whether environmental exposures (pesticides and smoke) influence respiratory and allergic outcomes in women living in a tropical, agricultural environment.

Methods: We used data from 266 mothers from the Infants' Environmental Health cohort study in Costa Rica. We evaluated environmental exposures in women by measuring seven pesticide and two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites in urine samples.

Exposure to common-use pesticides, manganese, lead, and thyroid function among pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study, Costa Rica.

Background: Pesticides and metals may disrupt thyroid function, which is key to fetal brain development.

Objectives: To evaluate if current-use pesticide exposures, lead and excess manganese alter free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Methods: At enrollment, we determined women's (n = 400) specific-gravity corrected urinary pesticide (μg/L) metabolite concentrations of mancozeb (ethylene thiourea (ETU)), pyrimethanil, thiabendazole, chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, and 2,4-D.