Serum perfluoroalkyl acids and time to pregnancy in nulliparous women

Background. Previous studies on the exposure to perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and female fertility have provided conflicting results. We aimed to investigate the association between several PFAAs and time to pregnancy among nulliparous women.

Methods. From 2008 to 2013, we included 1372 women from the Aarhus Birth Cohort, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, who provided data on time to pregnancy and a blood sample before 20 gestational weeks. We measured the levels of 16 PFAAs in maternal serum and report data for seven compounds with quantifiable values in at least 50% of samples. Fecundability ratios according to PFAA levels (quartiles or continuous levels) were estimated by discrete-time survival analyses, adjusted for potential confounders. We further investigated the association between PFAAs and infertility (time to pregnancy>12 months or infertility treatment prior to the studied pregnancy) by multivariable logistic regression.

Results. Median levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate were 8.3 and 2.0 ng/mL. Overall, no obvious associations were found between any PFAAs and fecundability or infertility. Adjusted fecundability ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 1.09 (0.92-1.29) for perfluorooctane sulfonate and 1.10 (0.93-1.30) for perfluorooctanoate (highest versus lowest quartile).

Conclusions. We found no evidence of an association between present serum levels of PFAAs and longer time to pregnancy or infertility in nulliparous women. This study further adds to the sparse knowledge on PFAAs besides perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate.