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Menstrual cycle characteristics in fertile women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine exposed to perfluorinated chemicals: a cross-sectional study

Lyngso, J. ; Ramlau-Hansen, C. H. ; Hoyer, B. B. ; Stovring, H. ; Bonde, J. P. ; Jönsson, Bo A LU ; Lindh, Christian LU orcid ; Pedersen, H. S. ; Ludwicki, J. K. and Zviezdai, V. , et al. (2014) In Human Reproduction 29(2). p.359-367
Abstract
Does perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanate (PFOA) exposure disrupt the menstrual cyclicity? The female reproductive system may be sensitive to PFOA exposure, with longer menstrual cycle length at higher exposure. PFOS and PFOA are persistent man-made chemicals. Experimental animal studies suggest they are reproductive toxicants but epidemiological findings are inconsistent. A cross-sectional study including 1623 pregnant women from the INUENDO cohort enrolled during antenatal care visits between June 2002 and May 2004 in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine. Information on menstrual cycle characteristics was obtained by questionnaires together with a blood sample from each pregnant woman. Serum concentrations of PFOS and PFOA... (More)
Does perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanate (PFOA) exposure disrupt the menstrual cyclicity? The female reproductive system may be sensitive to PFOA exposure, with longer menstrual cycle length at higher exposure. PFOS and PFOA are persistent man-made chemicals. Experimental animal studies suggest they are reproductive toxicants but epidemiological findings are inconsistent. A cross-sectional study including 1623 pregnant women from the INUENDO cohort enrolled during antenatal care visits between June 2002 and May 2004 in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine. Information on menstrual cycle characteristics was obtained by questionnaires together with a blood sample from each pregnant woman. Serum concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Multiple imputations were performed to account for missing data. The association between PFOS/PFOA and menstrual cycle length (short cycle: 24 days, long cycle: 32 days) and irregularities (7 days in difference between cycles) was analyzed using logistic regression with tertiles of exposure. Estimates are given as adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95 confidence intervals (CIs). Higher exposure levels of PFOA were associated with longer menstrual cycles in pooled estimates of all three countries. Compared with women in the lowest exposure tertile, the adjusted OR of long cycles was 1.8 (95 CI: 1.0; 3.3) among women in the highest tertile of PFOA exposure. No significant associations were observed between PFOS exposure and menstrual cycle characteristics. However, we observed a tendency toward more irregular cycles with higher exposure to PFOS [OR 1.7 (95 CI: 0.8; 3.5)]. The overall response rate was 45.3 with considerable variation between countries (91.3 in Greenland, 69.1 in Poland and 26.3 in Ukraine). Possible limitations in our study include varying participation rates across countries; a selected study group overrepresenting the most fertile part of the population; retrospective information on menstrual cycle characteristics; the determination of cut-points for all three outcome variables; and lacking information on some determinants of menstrual cycle characteristics, such as stress, physical activity, chronic diseases and gynecological disorders, thus confounding cannot be excluded. The generalizability of the study results is restricted to fertile women who manage to conceive and women who do not use oral contraceptives when getting pregnant or within 2 months before getting pregnant. To our knowledge only one previous epidemiological study has addressed the possible association between perfluorinated chemical exposure and menstrual disturbances. Though pointing toward different disturbances in cyclicity, both studies suggest that exposure to PFOA may affect the female reproductive function. This study contributes to the limited knowledge on effects of exposure to PFOA and PFOS on female reproductive function and suggests that the female reproductive system may be affected by environmental exposure to PFOA. Supported by a scholarship from Aarhus University Research Foundation. The collection of questionnaire data and blood samples was part of the INUENDO project supported by The European Commission (Contract no. QLK4-CT-2001-00 202), . The Ukrainian part of the study was possible by a grant from INTAS (project 012 2205). Determination of PFOA and PFOS in serum was part of the CLEAR study () supported by the European Commissions 7th Framework Program (FP7-ENV-2008-1-226217). No conflict of interest declared. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
menstrual cycle, PFOS, PFOA
in
Human Reproduction
volume
29
issue
2
pages
359 - 367
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • wos:000330842800021
  • scopus:84893152983
  • pmid:24163265
ISSN
0268-1161
DOI
10.1093/humrep/det390
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9c4ca1bf-04b5-47cb-87d2-b172ab53728d (old id 4376399)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:50:57
date last changed
2022-04-20 06:47:35
@article{9c4ca1bf-04b5-47cb-87d2-b172ab53728d,
  abstract     = {{Does perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanate (PFOA) exposure disrupt the menstrual cyclicity? The female reproductive system may be sensitive to PFOA exposure, with longer menstrual cycle length at higher exposure. PFOS and PFOA are persistent man-made chemicals. Experimental animal studies suggest they are reproductive toxicants but epidemiological findings are inconsistent. A cross-sectional study including 1623 pregnant women from the INUENDO cohort enrolled during antenatal care visits between June 2002 and May 2004 in Greenland, Poland and Ukraine. Information on menstrual cycle characteristics was obtained by questionnaires together with a blood sample from each pregnant woman. Serum concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Multiple imputations were performed to account for missing data. The association between PFOS/PFOA and menstrual cycle length (short cycle: 24 days, long cycle: 32 days) and irregularities (7 days in difference between cycles) was analyzed using logistic regression with tertiles of exposure. Estimates are given as adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95 confidence intervals (CIs). Higher exposure levels of PFOA were associated with longer menstrual cycles in pooled estimates of all three countries. Compared with women in the lowest exposure tertile, the adjusted OR of long cycles was 1.8 (95 CI: 1.0; 3.3) among women in the highest tertile of PFOA exposure. No significant associations were observed between PFOS exposure and menstrual cycle characteristics. However, we observed a tendency toward more irregular cycles with higher exposure to PFOS [OR 1.7 (95 CI: 0.8; 3.5)]. The overall response rate was 45.3 with considerable variation between countries (91.3 in Greenland, 69.1 in Poland and 26.3 in Ukraine). Possible limitations in our study include varying participation rates across countries; a selected study group overrepresenting the most fertile part of the population; retrospective information on menstrual cycle characteristics; the determination of cut-points for all three outcome variables; and lacking information on some determinants of menstrual cycle characteristics, such as stress, physical activity, chronic diseases and gynecological disorders, thus confounding cannot be excluded. The generalizability of the study results is restricted to fertile women who manage to conceive and women who do not use oral contraceptives when getting pregnant or within 2 months before getting pregnant. To our knowledge only one previous epidemiological study has addressed the possible association between perfluorinated chemical exposure and menstrual disturbances. Though pointing toward different disturbances in cyclicity, both studies suggest that exposure to PFOA may affect the female reproductive function. This study contributes to the limited knowledge on effects of exposure to PFOA and PFOS on female reproductive function and suggests that the female reproductive system may be affected by environmental exposure to PFOA. Supported by a scholarship from Aarhus University Research Foundation. The collection of questionnaire data and blood samples was part of the INUENDO project supported by The European Commission (Contract no. QLK4-CT-2001-00 202), . The Ukrainian part of the study was possible by a grant from INTAS (project 012 2205). Determination of PFOA and PFOS in serum was part of the CLEAR study () supported by the European Commissions 7th Framework Program (FP7-ENV-2008-1-226217). No conflict of interest declared.}},
  author       = {{Lyngso, J. and Ramlau-Hansen, C. H. and Hoyer, B. B. and Stovring, H. and Bonde, J. P. and Jönsson, Bo A and Lindh, Christian and Pedersen, H. S. and Ludwicki, J. K. and Zviezdai, V. and Toft, G.}},
  issn         = {{0268-1161}},
  keywords     = {{menstrual cycle; PFOS; PFOA}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{359--367}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Human Reproduction}},
  title        = {{Menstrual cycle characteristics in fertile women from Greenland, Poland and Ukraine exposed to perfluorinated chemicals: a cross-sectional study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/det390}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/humrep/det390}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}