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Exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and estimated glomerular filtration rate in adults: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES (2017–2018)

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Abstract

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may be important environmental risk factors affecting renal function. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between PFASs and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in univariate exposure and multivariate co-exposure models of PFASs. A total of 1700 people over 18 years from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2017–2018 were selected as subjects to explore the relationships between eGFR and six PFASs (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFUA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDeA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS)). First, multiple linear regression was used to estimate the association of each PFAS with eGFR, and the joint effect of PFAS mixtures was evaluated by Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). Multiple linear regression analysis showed PFOS (β =  − 0.246, p = 0.026) and PFHxS (β = 0.538, p = 0.049) were significantly associated with eGFR in total population. In BKMR analysis, there was joint effect between PFOS and PFHxS for eGFR. And there were the joint effects of multiple PFAS on eGFR, especially the significant joint effect between PFHxS and PFDeA/PFNA/PFUA. Future cohort studies need to explore the association of multiple PFASs and health.

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Data availability

The datasets used are available in NHANES repository, at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.htm.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and all research subjects for their participation.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81872701, 81273040) and Postgraduate Education Innovation Project in Shanxi Province, China (2021Y416) supported by the Shanxi Scholarship Council of China.

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Author notes

  1. YuFen Liang and Han Zhou contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    Yufen Liang, Han Zhou, Jiachen Zhang, Shuangjing Li, Weitong Shen & Lijian Lei

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  1. Yufen Liang
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  2. Han Zhou
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  3. Jiachen Zhang
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  4. Shuangjing Li
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Contributions

Lijian Lei designed this study and carried out the overall planning. Yufen Liang and Han Zhou analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript; Lijian Lei revised the manuscript. Jiachen Zhang, Shuangjing Li, and Weitong Shen contributed to collect the data. Yufen Liang and Han Zhou had the same contribution to this research. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lijian Lei.

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Not applicable. This study uses only secondary data analyses without any personal information identified using statistical data from NHANES website; no further ethical approval for conducting the present study is required.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Liang, Y., Zhou, H., Zhang, J. et al. Exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and estimated glomerular filtration rate in adults: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES (2017–2018). Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 57931–57944 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26384-9

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