Association Between Prenatal Exposure to Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances From Electronic Waste Disassembly Areas and Steroid Hormones in Human Milk Samples

Abstract

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are long-lasting environmental contaminants that are released into the environment during the e-waste disassembly process, pose a threat to human health. Human milk is a complex and dynamic mixture of endogenous and exogenous substances, including steroid hormones and PFAS. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the association between PFAS and steroid hormones in human milk from women living close to an e-waste disassembly area. In 2021, we collected milk samples from 150 mothers within 4 weeks of delivery and analyzed them via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to determine the levels of 21 perfluorinated compounds and five steroid hormones (estrone, estriol, testosterone, progesterone, and androstenedione [A-dione]). We also performed multiple linear regression analysis to clarify the association between maternal PFAS exposure and steroid hormone concentrations. Our results indicated that PFOA and PFOS were positively associated with estrone (β, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.08–0.39) and A-dione (β, 0.186; 95% CI, 0.016–0.357) concentrations in human milk, respectively. Further, the average estimated daily intake of PFOA and PFOS were 36.5 ng/kg bw/day (range, 0.52–291.7 ng/kg bw/day) and 5.21 ng/kg bw/day (range, 0.26–32.3 ng/kg bw/day), respectively. Of concern, the PFAS intake of breastfeeding infants in the study area was higher than the recommended threshold. These findings suggested that prenatal exposure to PFAS from the e-waste disassembly process can influence steroid hormones levels in human milk. Increased efforts to mitigate mother and infant exposure to environmental pollutants are also required.