Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) linked to a higher risk of endocrine-related disorders and to negative impacts on children’s growth and development. As previous studies have found racial and income differences in the serum levels among United States (US) adults, we set out to examine racial and income differences of exposure among the US adolescent population to two PFAS chemicals, perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). A secondary cross-sectional data analysis was conducted among 272 adolescents aged 12-19 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Exam-ination Survey (NHANES) 2017-2018 cycle. NHANES collected information on race, ethnicity, household income and performed laboratory testing to measure serum levels of PFAS chemicals. One-way ANOVA tests were performed to compare log-transformed mean PFOA and PFOA levels between races and income groups. We observed higher mean PFOA levels in non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Asians compared to non-Hispanic Blacks (p = 0.0070), and higher mean PFOS serum levels among non-Hispanic Whites compared Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Blacks (p = 0.0063). Our results showed limited evidence in the association between income groups in mean PFOA serum levels (p = 0.0613) and PFOS serum levels (p = 0.9465); however, we noted adolescents from the lowest and highest income categories had the highest mean PFOS levels. Future research longitudinal studies among youth should examine the impact of lifetime cumulative exposure to PFAS chemicals and the synergistic effects of other EDCs on health outcomes into adulthood with a specific focus on potential racial differences in these health outcomes.

Keywords: PFAS, endocrine disruptors, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, pediatric health, United States