Association of diet with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and human milk in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are related to various adverse health outcomes, and food is a common source of PFAS exposure. Dietary sources of PFAS have not been adequately explored among U.S.

Plasma per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance mixtures during pregnancy and duration of breastfeeding in the New Hampshire birth cohort study.

Background: Prior studies suggest that prenatal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposures are associated with shorter breastfeeding duration. Studies assessing PFAS mixtures and populations in North America are sparse.

Methods: We quantified PFAS concentrations in maternal plasma collected during pregnancy in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (2010-2017).

Predictors of Breastfeeding Duration in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.

Introduction: Breastfeeding has significant health benefits for infants and birthing persons, including reduced risk of chronic disease. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusively breastfeeding infants for 6 months and recently extended its recommendation for continuing to breastfeed with supplementation of solid foods from one to two years. Studies consistently identify lower breastfeeding rates among US infants, with regional and demographic variability.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Mixture during Pregnancy and Postpartum Weight Retention in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS).

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), widely used in industrial and consumer products, are suspected metabolic disruptors. We examined the association between a PFAS mixture during pregnancy and postpartum weight retention in 482 participants from the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. PFAS concentrations, including perfluorohexane sulfonate, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoate, were quantified in maternal plasma collected at ~28 gestational weeks.

Gestational per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and infant body mass index trajectory in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent, potential metabolic disruptors of concern for infants. Mothers participating in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) provided a plasma sample during pregnancy to measure concentrations of seven PFAS, and infant weight and length were abstracted from well-child visits between birth and 12 months. Sex-specific growth patterns of child body mass index (BMI) were fit using a growth mixture model (GMM) and the relative risk ratios (RRR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) for the association of maternal plasma PFAS with BMI growth patterns during infancy were estimated by using multinomial logistic model for the group probabilities in the GMM.

Reproductive and developmental health effects of prenatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water.

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) is a common contaminant in both occupational and community settings. High exposure levels in the workplace have been shown to have adverse impacts on reproduction and development but few epidemiological studies have examined these effects at the lower levels commonly seen in community settings. We were presented with a unique opportunity to examine the reproductive and developmental effects of prenatal exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water resulting from the installation of vinyl-lined water pipes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island from the late 1960s through 1980.

Modeled exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the occurrence of birth defects: a case-control study from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Background: Residents of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were exposed to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water from 1968 through the early 1990s when it leached from the vinyl lining of asbestos cement water distribution pipes. While occupational exposure to solvents during pregnancy has consistently been linked to an increased risk of certain birth defects, mixed results have been observed for environmental sources of exposure, including contaminated drinking water. The present case-control study was undertaken to examine further the association between prenatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the risk of central nervous system defects, oral clefts and hypospadias.

Modeled exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the risk of placenta-related stillbirths: a case-control study from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Background: Residents of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were exposed to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water from 1968 through the early 1990s when the solvent was used to apply a vinyl liner to drinking water mains to address taste and odor problems. Few studies have examined the risk of fetal death among women exposed to solvent-contaminated drinking water. Two previous investigations found moderate increases in the risk of stillbirth among highly exposed women; however, these results were based on a small number of cases.

Lifetime exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the risk of multiple sclerosis in the US radiologic technologists cohort study.

Background: Low exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from sunlight may be a risk factor for developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Possible pathways may be related to effects on immune system function or vitamin D insufficiency, as UVR plays a role in the production of the active form of vitamin D in the body.

Objective: This study examined whether lower levels of residential UVR exposure from sunlight were associated with increased MS risk in a cohort of radiologic technologists.

Exploring associations between prenatal solvent exposures and teenage drug and alcohol use: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Investigating the effects of prenatal and childhood exposures on behavioral health outcomes in adolescence is challenging given the lengthy period between the exposure and outcomes. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Cape Cod, Massachusetts to evaluate the impact of prenatal and early childhood exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water on the occurrence of risk-taking behaviors as a teenager. An increased occurrence of risk-taking behaviors, particularly illicit drug use, was observed in those highly exposed to PCE.

No Association Between Unintentional Head Injuries and Early-Life Exposure to Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-Contaminated Drinking Water.

Objective: Because of emerging evidence that early-life exposure to the solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) has long-lasting neurological consequences, we examined the risk of unintentional head injuries following prenatal and childhood exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water.

Methods: Participants provided information on head injuries and other relevant characteristics in a self-administered questionnaire. Exposure to PCE was modeled using a leaching and transport algorithm set in water system modeling software.

Long-term Neurotoxic Effects of Early-life Exposure to Tetrachloroethylene-contaminated Drinking Water.

Background: Tetrachloroethene (PCE) is a common environmental and occupational contaminant and an acknowledged neurotoxicant. From 1968 through 1983, widespread contamination of public drinking water supplies with PCE occurred in the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. The source of the contamination was a vinyl liner applied to the inner surface of water distribution pipes.

Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Female Textile Workers in Shanghai, China, Exposed to Metals, Solvents, Chemicals, and Endotoxin: Follow-Up to a Nested Case-Cohort Study.

Objective: We studied associations between pancreatic cancer and occupational exposures to metals, solvents, chemicals, and endotoxin in a cohort of female textile workers in Shanghai, China. To assess the longer-term influences of these agents on pancreatic cancer we extended follow-up of this previously studied cohort.

Methods: We utilized a job exposure matrix to assess occupational exposures for 481 pancreatic cancer cases and a randomly selected sub-cohort of 3191 non-cases.

Long-term health effects of early life exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: While adult exposure to PCE is known to have toxic effects, there is little information on the long-term impact of prenatal and early childhood exposure. We undertook a retrospective cohort study to examine the effects of their early life exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water. This retrospective cohort study examined whether prenatal and early childhood exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water influenced the risk of a variety of chronic conditions among adults who were born between 1969 and 1983 in the Cape Cod area of Massachusetts.

Extended follow-up of lung cancer and non-malignant respiratory disease mortality among California diatomaceous earth workers.

Objectives: Millions of workers worldwide are employed in occupations involving potentiality hazardous exposure to crystalline silica. The diatomaceous earth industry can have particularly high exposures, but there is a lower likelihood of simultaneously occurring confounding exposures. We extended follow-up for diatomaceous earth industry workers previously studied for mortality.

Occupational exposures and risk of stomach and esophageal cancers: update of a cohort of female textile workers in Shanghai, China.

Background: Associations between stomach and esophageal cancer and exposures to dusts, metals, chemicals, and endotoxin in the workplace are not very well understood, particularly in women.

Methods: We followed 267,400 female textile workers in Shanghai, China for cancer incidence from 1989 to 2006. Stomach (n = 1374) and esophageal (n = 190) cancer cases were identified and a comparison subcohort (n = 3187) was randomly selected.

Parkinson's disease and history of outdoor occupation.

Background: Human and animal studies, albeit not fully consistent, suggest that vitamin D may reduce risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). Ultraviolet radiation converts vitamin D precursor to the active form. This study examined the hypothesis that working outdoors is associated with a decreased risk of PD.

Reproductive factors and risk of lung cancer in female textile workers in Shanghai, China.

Purpose: Hormonal factors may play a role in the development of lung cancer in women. This study examined the relationship between lung cancer and reproductive factors in a large cohort of women, most of whom never smoked (97%).

Methods: A cohort of 267,400 female textile workers in Shanghai, China, enrolled in a trial of breast self-examination provided information on reproductive history, demographical factors, and cigarette smoking at enrollment in 1989-91.

Genotype and age at Parkinson disease diagnosis.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a degenerative movement disorder that results from the destruction of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain substantia nigra. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to PD risk, and likely to age at diagnosis. Among 258 newly diagnosed non-Hispanic Caucasian cases from Group Health Cooperative in western Washington State, we assessed whether diagnosis age was associated with 1,327 single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes related to central nervous system function, oxidative stress, inflammation or metal transport.