Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), Perceived Stress, and Depressive Symptoms in a Prospective Cohort Study of Black Women

Overview

Journal Sci Total Environ

Date 2024 Apr 20

PMID 38642767

Authors

Samantha Schildroth

Birgit Claus Henn

Anissa I Vines

Ruth J Geller

Sharonda M Lovett

Chad M Coleman

Traci N Bethea

Julianne Cook Botelho

Antonia M Calafat

Chad Milando

Donna D Baird

Ganesa Wegienka

Lauren A Wise

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are endocrine-disrupting chemicals with neurotoxic properties. PFAS have been associated with depressive symptoms among women in some studies, but little research has evaluated the effects of PFAS mixtures. Further, no study has investigated interactions of PFAS-depression associations by perceived stress, which has been shown to modify the effects of PFAS on other health outcomes.

Objective: In a prospective cohort study of reproductive-aged Black women, we investigated associations between PFAS and depressive symptoms and the extent to which perceived stress modified these associations.

Methods: We analyzed data from 1499 participants (23-35 years) in the Study of Environment, Lifestyle, and Fibroids. We quantified concentrations of nine PFAS in baseline plasma samples using online solid-phase extraction-liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry. Participants reported perceived stress via the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4; range = 0-16) at baseline and depressive symptoms via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD; range = 0-44) at the 20-month follow-up visit. We used Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression to estimate associations between PFAS concentrations, individually and as a mixture, and depressive symptoms, and to assess effect modification by PSS-4 scores, adjusting for confounders.

Results: Baseline perfluorodecanoic acid concentrations were associated with greater depressive symptoms at the 20-month follow-up, but associations for other PFAS were null. The PFAS were not associated with depressive symptoms when evaluated as a mixture. The association between the 90th percentile (vs. 50th percentile) of the PFAS mixture with CES-D scores was null at the 10th (β = 0.03; 95 % CrI = 0.20, 0.25), 50th (β = 0.02; 95 % CrI = -0.16, 0.19), and 90th (β = 0.01; 95 % CrI = 0.18, 0.20) percentiles of PSS-4 scores, suggesting perceived stress did not modify the PFAS mixture.

Conclusion: In this prospective cohort study, PFAS concentrations-assessed individually or as a mixture-were not appreciably associated with depressive symptoms, and there was no evidence of effect modification by perceived stress.

Citing Articles

Sex specificity in associations between exposure to a mixture of per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and anxiety among US adults.

Hua X, Hu R, Chen C, Sun J, Feng X, Zhang X J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2025; .

PMID: 39775104 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-024-00741-3.

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