Prenatal PFAS Exposure and Early Childhood Sleep Quality in the ECHO Cohort.

Authors

Cai Zhang, Taylor Etzel, Susan L Schantz, Sheena E Martenies, Naiman Khan, Zhengmin Qian, Sarah D Geiger, ECHO Cohort Consortium

Published in

Environmental research. Pages 125429. Aug 13, 2026. Epub Aug 13, 2026.

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals that readily cross the placenta and may interfere with hormonal systems essential for neurodevelopment and circadian regulation. We examined associations between prenatal exposure to individual PFAS and early childhood sleep quality. The analytic sample included 2,836 mother-child pairs from 14 study sites in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort. We assessed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Sleep Problems T-scores from ages 1-5 years. Maternal serum concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) were measured during pregnancy. Linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts estimated associations between log₂-transformed PFAS concentrations and CBCL scores, with covariate adjustment. The mean maternal age was 29.6 years, and the sample was racially and socioeconomically diverse (43% non-Hispanic White, 24% Black, and 23% Hispanic; 27% holding advanced degrees; and 36% reporting annual incomes <$30,000). In adjusted analyses, higher prenatal PFOA concentrations were associated with higher CBCL sleep problem scores in early childhood (β=0.13; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.21). Associations for PFOS, PFNA, and PFHxS were small and not statistically significant. Higher prenatal PFOA concentrations were associated with modestly higher CBCL Sleep Problems T-scores during early childhood, while associations for PFOS, PFNA, and PFHxS were small and imprecise. Although the magnitude of the observed PFOA association was modest, the findings add to a limited evidence base on prenatal PFAS exposure and parent-reported sleep-related behaviors in early childhood and warrant confirmation in future studies that incorporate harmonized trimester-specific exposure assessment, objective sleep measures, and mixture-based analytic approaches.

PMID:
42595033
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Aug 2026.

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