Perfluorooctanoic acid exposure is associated with elevated homocysteine and hypertension in US adults
- 1Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Republic of Korea
- Correspondence to Professor Kyoung-Bok Min, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, San 5, Wonchon-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 443-721, Republic of Korea; mink1999{at}ajou.ac.kr
- Accepted 8 May 2012
- Published Online First 31 May 2012
Abstract
Objective To investigate the association between serum perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) concentration and cardiovascular disease, as measured by homocysteine level and blood pressure in a representative sample of US adults.
Methods A cross-sectional study of 2934 adults (≥20 years) who participated in the 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and had detectable levels of PFOA in their serum. The health effects analysed as potentially associated with PFOA exposure included homocysteine level and blood pressure.
Results The geometric mean value (95% CI) of the study participants' serum PFOA concentration was 4.00 μg/l (95% CI 3.86 to 4.13). The homocysteine and systolic blood pressure were shown to increase significantly with an increase in the log-transformed serum PFOA concentration, after adjusting for potential confounding variables. Adjusted ORs comparing participants at the 80th versus the 20th percentiles were 2.62 for hypertension (95% CI 2.09 to 3.14), and a positive association was also evident in models based on quartiles or based on restricted cubic splines.
Conclusion These findings suggest that background exposure to PFOA may continue a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases.
- Perfluorooctanoic acid
- homocysteine
- blood pressure
- perfluorooctane sulfonate
- ageing
- cardiovascular
- lung function
- neurobehavioural effects
- smoking
Footnotes
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Competing interests None.
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Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the study protocol and by the Institutional Review Board, Ajou University School of Medicine.
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Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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