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Stain repellent chemicals linked to adult thyroid disease
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Higher concentrations of human exposure to serum perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulphonate, man-made chemicals used in industrial and consumer goods, have been linked to thyroid disease in adults.
“There have long been suspicions that PFOA concentrations might be linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels,” David Melzer, MB, PhD, professor of epidemiology and public health at Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom, said in a press release. “Our analyses show that in the ‘ordinary’ adult population there is a solid statistical link between higher concentration of PFOA in blood and thyroid disease.
The researchers analyzed blood serum from 3,966 adults aged 20 years and older in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Studies (1999-2000, 2003-2004 and 2005-2006). Adjusted regression models were performed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, smoking status, BMI and alcohol intake.
The weighted prevalence of reporting any thyroid disease was 16.18% in women and 3.06% in men. The prevalence of current thyroid disease patients taking correlated medication was 9.89% for women and 1.88% for men.
The researchers found that adults with the highest 25% of PFOA concentrations (>5.7 ng/mL) were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease compared with adults with the lowest 50% of PFOA concentrations (<4 ng/mL).
For women, fully adjusted logistical models showed that a PFOA level ≥5.7 ng/mL was associated with a greater likelihood of reporting current treated thyroid disease (OR=2.24; 95% CI, 1.38-3.65) when compared with women with a PFOA level ≤4.0 ng/mL. Similarly, men showed a near significant comparable trend (OR=2.12; CI 0.93-4.82).
Analyses comparing men’s PFOS levels ≥36.8 ng/mL to ≤25.5 ng/mL showed a similar correlation (OR=2.68; CI 1.03-6.98). This association was not significant in women.
Previous research has shown that perfluoroalkyl acid compounds are found in water, air and soil throughout the world.
"Our results highlight a real need for further research into the human health effects of low-level exposures to environmental chemicals like PFOA that are ubiquitous in the environment and in people's homes,” Tamara Galloway, PhD, professor of ecotoxicology at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, said in the press release.
Galloway TS. Environ Health Perspect. 2010;doi:10.1289/ehp.0901584.