ArticleEnvironmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.)2020
Birth weight and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid: a random-effects meta-regression analysis.
Article in Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Birth weight in relation to maternal and neonatal biomarker concentration of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid: a meta-analysis and meta-regression from a systematic review.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Relationship of prenatal methylmercury exposure and language/verbal function: a meta-analysis.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Pooled it
- Environmental Exposure to Per- and Polyfluorylalkyl Substances (PFASs) and Reproductive Outcomes in the General Population: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of birth weight and perfluorohexane sulfonate exposures: examination of sample timing and study confidence.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of birth weight and PFNA exposures.Environmental research · 2023Pooled it
- Association Between Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Birth Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Forever Chemicals, Finite Defenses: PFAS Burden the Liver, Break Mitochondria, and Outpace Modern Regulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Which prenatal biomarker is most appropriate for methylmercury dose-response for neurodevelopmental effects?Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part B, Critical reviews · 2025Review
- A Perspective from US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scientists: How Your Epidemiologic Analyses Can Inform the Human Health Risk Assessment Process.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- Fish consumption benefits and PFAS risks: Epidemiology and public health recommendations.Toxicology reports · 2024Review
- Associations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances with maternal early second trimester sex-steroid hormones.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2024Article
- Re-expressing coefficients from regression models for inclusion in a meta-analysis.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Article
- Relative Risks of Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Three Australian Communities Exposed to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Data Linkage Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Multiple Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Childhood BMI Trajectories in the INMA Cohort Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid modulates expression of placental steroidogenesis-associated genes and hormone levels in pregnant rats.Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Metabolism-Disrupting Chemicals, Cord Blood Transcriptome Perturbations, and Birth Weight in a Belgian Birth Cohort.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Birth Outcomes in Relation to Prenatal Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Stress in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Environmental toxicants and placental function.Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology · 2022Review
- Review
- Maternal perfluorooctane sulfonic acid exposure during rat pregnancy causes hypersensitivity to angiotensin II and attenuation of endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the uterine arteries †.Biology of reproduction · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. Most people in developed countries have detectable serum concentrations. Lower birth weight has been associated with serum PFOS in studies world-wide, many of which have been published only recently.
methodsTo facilitate a causal assessment of the birth weight and PFOS association, we updated previous meta-analyses of the association and employed a method that facilitated inclusion of all available data in one analysis. Our analysis was based on observations from 29 studies.
resultsThe random effects summary was -3.22 g/ng/ml (95% confidence interval [CI] = -5.11, -1.33). In a subgroup analysis stratified by when in pregnancy the PFOS concentration was measured, the summary for the early group was -1.35 (95% CI = -2.33, -0.37) and for the later group was -7.17 (95% CI = -10.93, -3.41). In a meta-regression model including a term for timing of blood draw, the intercept was slightly positive but essentially zero (0.59 g/ng/ml, 95% CI = -1.94, 3.11). In other words, the model indicated that when blood was drawn at the very beginning of pregnancy, there was essentially no relation of birth weight to PFOS. The results from the subgroup analyses differed from those from the model because the average gestational age at blood draw in the early group was 14 weeks, when bias would still be expected. A stronger inverse association in Asian studies was not completely explained by their blood draws being from later in pregnancy.
conclusionsThe evidence was weakly or not supportive of a causal association.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.