ArticleEnvironmental research2023
Cross-sectional associations of maternal PFAS exposure on SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels during pregnancy.
Article in Environmental research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- In Utero Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure and Changes in Infant T Helper Cell Development among UPSIDE-ECHO Cohort Participants.Environmental health perspectives · 2026Article
- Serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations and anti-spike SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels following COVID-19 vaccination: A cross-sectional study in three communities with elevated PFAS exposure.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2026Article
- Circulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and risk of pancreatic cancer: A nested case-control study within the NYU Women's health study.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2025Article
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): History, Current Concerns, and Future Outlook.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- High-dimensional mediation analysis to elucidate the role of metabolites in the association between PFAS exposure and reduced SARS-CoV-2 IgG in pregnancy.The Science of the total environment · 2025Article
- County-level associations between drinking water PFAS contamination and COVID-19 mortality in the United States.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Immune cell profiles associated with human exposure to perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) suggest changes in natural killer, T helper, and T cytotoxic cell subpopulations.Environmental research · 2024Article
- Effects of Perfluorohexane Sulfonate Exposure on Immune Cell Populations in Naive Mice.ImmunoHorizons · 2024Article
- Public Health Risks of PFAS-Related Immunotoxicity Are Real.Current environmental health reports · 2024Review
- Serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance concentrations and longitudinal change in post-infection and post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.Environmental research · 2023Article
- Invited Perspective: Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Impaired Antibody Response to Vaccination-Who Is Affected?Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPerfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) are man-made, persistent organic compounds with immune-modulating potentials. Given that pregnancy itself represents an altered state of immunity, PFAS exposure-related immunotoxicity is an important environmental factor to consider in SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy as it may further affect humoral immune responses.
aimTo investigate the relationship between maternal plasma PFAS concentrations and SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in a NYC-based pregnancy cohort.
methodsMaternal plasma was collected from 72 SARS-CoV-2 IgG + participants of the Generation C Study, a birth cohort established at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Maternal SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG antibody levels were measured using ELISA. A panel of 16 PFAS congeners were measured in maternal plasma using a targeted UHPLC-MS/MS-based assay. Spearman correlations and linear regressions were employed to explore associations between maternal IgG antibody levels and plasma PFAS concentrations. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression was also used to evaluate mixture effects of PFAS. Models were adjusted for maternal age, gestational age at which SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer was measured, COVID-19 vaccination status prior to IgG titer measurement, maternal race/ethnicity, parity, type of insurance and pre-pregnancy BMI.
resultsOur study population is ethnically diverse with an average maternal age of 32 years. Of the 16 PFAS congeners measured, nine were detected in more than 60% samples. Importantly, all nine congeners were negatively correlated with SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG antibody levels; n-PFOA and PFHxS, PFHpS, and PFHxA reached statistical significance (p < 0.05) in multivariable analyses. When we examined the mixture effects using WQS, a quartile increase in the PFAS mixture-index was significantly associated with lower maternal IgG antibody titers (beta [95% CI] = -0.35 [-0.52, -0.17]). PFHxA was the top contributor to the overall mixture effect.
conclusionsOur study results support the notion that PFAS, including short-chain emerging PFAS, act as immunosuppressants during pregnancy. Whether such compromised immune activity leads to downstream health effects, such as the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, adverse obstetric outcomes or neonatal immune responses remains to be investigated.
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