Background: Disruption of thyroid homeostasis has been indicated in human studies targeting effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Influence on the maternal thyroid system by POPs is of special interest during pregnancy because such effects could impair infant thyroid homeostasis.
Objectives: We investigated the association between POPs and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormones (THs) in mother and child pairs from the Northern Norway Mother-and-Child Contaminant Cohort Study (MISA).
Methods: Nineteen POPs and 10 thyroid parameters were analyzed in serum from 391 pregnant women in their second trimester. In addition, TSH concentrations in heel-prick samples from the infants were analyzed by the Norwegian Newborn Screening program. Association studies with a multipollutant approach were performed using multivariate analyses; partial least squares (PLS) regression, hierarchical clustering, and principal component analysis (PCA).
Results: Several POPs were significantly associated with TSH and THs: a) PFOS was positively associated with TSH; b) PCBs, HCB, and nonachlors were inversely associated with T3, T4, and FT4; and, c) PFDA and PFUnDA were inversely associated with T3 and FT3. After mutual adjustments for the other contaminants, only PFDA and PFUnDA remained significantly associated with T3 and FT3, respectively. Infants born to mothers within the highest TSH quartile had 10% higher mean concentrations of TSH compared with children born to mothers in the lowest TSH quartile.
Conclusion: The present results suggest that background exposures to POPs can alter maternal thyroid homeostasis. This research contributes to the understanding of multipollutant exposures using multivariate statistical approaches and highlights the complexity of investigating environmental concentrations and mixtures in regard to maternal and infant thyroid function.
1Diagnostic Clinic, University Hospital of North Norway, Troms酶, Norway; 2NILU鈥揘orwegian Institute of Air Research, Fram Centre, Troms酶, Norway; 3Department of Community Medicine, UIT鈥搕he Arctic University of Norway, Troms酶, Norway; 4Norwegian National Unit for Newborn Screening, Women and Children鈥檚 Division, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 5Institute of Clinical Medicine, UIT鈥搕he Arctic University of Norway, Troms酶, Norway; 6Department of Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Recommended Citation:
Vivian Berg,1,2,et al. Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Association with Maternal and Infant Thyroid Homeostasis: A Multipollutant Assessment[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2017-01-01,Volume 125(Issue 1):127