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

• Published in: Human Reproduction
• Main Authors: Lyngso, J., Ramlau-Hansen, C. H., Hoyer, B. B., Stovring, H., Bonde, J. P., Jönsson, Bo A, Lindh, Christian, Pedersen, H. S., Ludwicki, J. K., Zviezdai, V., Toft, G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2014
• Subjects: Environmental Health and Occupational Health; menstrual cycle; PFOS; PFOA; Greenland
• Online Access: https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4376399; https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/det390

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 ...