SynthesisFrontiers in public health2022
Association Between Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Birth Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 5 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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- 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
- Per- And Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure and Risk of Breast, and Female Genital Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.La Medicina del lavoro · 2024Pooled 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
- Associations between prenatal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and fetal growth measurements in utero and at birth in the LIFECODES cohort: 2006-2019.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Stress-activated pathways mediate PFAS effects on human placental syncytiotrophoblast cells.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026Article
- New Mechanistic Evidence for Perfluorodecanoic Acid (PFDA) Teratogenicity via CYP26A1-Mediated Retinoic Acid Metabolism and Signaling.Chemical research in toxicology · 2026Article
- Role of one-carbon metabolism variants in the associations between perfluoroalkyl substances exposure and birth size in the Taiwan Birth Panel Study.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- A prospective study of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), stress, and birth size in a cohort of U.S. Black women.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- FIGO committee opinion: Environmental drivers of obstetric health and early childhood development.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- Review
- Individual and combined effects of maternal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure on preterm birth: a nested case-control study in China.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Article
- Paternal and maternal exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and birth outcomes: a multi-country cohort study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Article
- Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Healthcare: Environmental and Clinical Insights.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Epigenetic Consequences of In Utero PFAS Exposure: Implications for Development and Long-Term Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Review
- Individual and mixtures of PFAS during pregnancy are associated with maternal cardiometabolic outcomes during pregnancy.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Observational
- Perfluoroalkyl substances and preterm birth.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Article
- Sex-specific effects of in utero exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on placental development.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Outcomes Related to Metabolic Syndrome: A Review of the Literature and Current Recommendations for Clinicians.American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: A large body of emerging evidence suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) affect birth outcomes in various pathways, but the evidence is inconsistent. Therefore, this study aimed to systematically review the epidemiological evidence on PFAS exposure and birth outcomes. Methods: Three electronic databases were searched for epidemiological studies through February 13, 2021. We used random-effects meta-analysis for eight birth outcome indicators to calculate summary effect estimates for various exposure types. The risk of bias and the overall quality and level of evidence for each exposure-outcome pair were assessed. Results: The initial search identified 58 potentially eligible studies, of which 46 were ultimately included. Many PFAS were found to have previously unrecognized statistically significant associations with birth outcomes. Specifically, birth weight (BW) was associated with PFAS, with effect sizes ranging from -181.209 g (95% confidence interval (CI) = -360.620 to -1.798) per 1 ng/ml increase in perfluoroheptanesulfonate (PFHpS) to -24.252 g (95% CI = -38.574 to -9.930) per 1 ln (ng/ml) increase in perfluorodecaoic acid (PFDA). Similar patterns were observed between other PFAS and birth outcomes: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) with birth length (BL) and ponderal index (PI), PFOS and perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA) with head circumference (HC), PFHpS with gestational age (GA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and PFHpS with preterm birth (PTB). Additionally, PFDA showed a statistically significant association with small for gestational age (SGA). The level of the combined evidence for each exposure-outcome pair was considered to be "moderate". Conclusion: This study showed that PFAS exposure was significantly associated with increased risks of various adverse birth outcomes and that different birth outcome indicators had different degrees of sensitivity to PFAS. Further studies are needed to confirm our results by expanding the sample size, clarifying the effects of different types or doses of PFAS and the time of blood collection on birth outcomes, and fully considering the possible confounders.
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