Breastfeeding as a Predictor of Serum Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Reproductive-aged Women and Children: A Rapid Systematic Review

Purpose of Review: Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic chemicals widely detected in human serum, and at low levels in breast milk. We conducted a rapid systematic review on breastfeeding practices and serum concentrations of PFASs – specifically PFOS and PFOA - among reproductive-aged women and young children using the Navigation Guide systematic review methodology. Recent Findings: We included 14 studies examining associations between breastfeeding and PFASs in infants/toddlers or pregnant/postnatal women. Breastfeeding was significantly associated with lower PFASs exposure among women and higher PFASs exposure among children. Summary: We concluded there was “sufficient” evidence supporting an association between breastfeeding and serum PFASs concentrations among women, and “limited” evidence of an association among children due to issues with sample size, confounding, and exposure assessment. These findings reinforce that lactation is an important excretion route of PFASs for women, and that breast milk may be an important exposure pathway for young children

Development and evaluation of a novel dietary bisphenol A (BPA) exposure risk tool

Background: Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) is primarily from the diet through canned foods. Characterizing dietary exposures can be conducted through biomonitoring and dietary surveys; however, these methods can be time-consuming and challenging to implement. Methods: We developed a novel dietary exposure risk questionnaire to evaluate BPA exposure and compared these results to 24-hr dietary recall data from participants (n = 404) of the Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success (DIETFITS) study, a dietary clinical trial, to validate questionnaire responses. High BPA exposure foods were identified from the dietary recalls and used to estimate BPA exposure. Linear regression models estimated the association between exposure to BPA and questionnaire responses. A composite risk score was developed to summarize questionnaire responses. Results: In questionnaire data, 65% of participants ate canned food every week. A composite exposure score validated that the dietary exposure risk questionnaire captured increasing BPA exposure. In the linear regression models, utilizing questionnaire responses vs. 24-hr dietary recall data, participants eating canned foods 1–2 times/week (vs. never) consumed 0.78 more servings (p \u3c 0.001) of high BPA exposure foods, and those eating canned foods 3+ times/week (vs. never) consumed 0.89 more servings (p = 0.013) of high BPA exposure foods. Participants eating 3+ packaged items/day (vs. never) consumed 62.65 more total grams of high BPA exposure food (p = 0.036). Conclusions: Dietary exposure risk questionnaires may provide an efficient alternative approach to 24-hour dietary recalls to quantify dietary BPA exposure with low participant burden. Trial registration: The trial was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01826591 on April 8, 2013

Population susceptibility: A vital consideration in chemical risk evaluation under the Lautenberg Toxic Substances Control Act.

The 2016 Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg TSCA) amended the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to mandate protection of susceptible and highly exposed populations. Program implementation entails a myriad of choices that can lead to different degrees of public health protections. Well-documented exposures to multiple industrial chemicals occur from air, soil, water, food, and products in our workplaces, schools, and homes. Many hazardous chemicals are associated with or known to cause health risks; for other industrial chemicals, no data exist to confirm their safety because of flaws in 1976 TSCA. Under the 2016 Lautenberg amendments, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must evaluate chemicals against risk-based safety standards under enforceable deadlines, with an explicit mandate to identify and assess risks to susceptible and highly exposed populations. Effective public health protection requires EPA to implement the Lautenberg TSCA requirements by incorporating intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect susceptibility, adequately assessing exposure among vulnerable groups, and accurately identifying highly exposed groups. We recommend key scientific and risk assessment principles to inform health-protective chemical policy such as consideration of aggregate exposures from all pathways and, when data are lacking, the use of health-protective defaults

Population susceptibility: A vital consideration in chemical risk evaluation under the Lautenberg Toxic Substances Control Act.

The 2016 Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg TSCA) amended the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to mandate protection of susceptible and highly exposed populations. Program implementation entails a myriad of choices that can lead to different degrees of public health protections. Well-documented exposures to multiple industrial chemicals occur from air, soil, water, food, and products in our workplaces, schools, and homes. Many hazardous chemicals are associated with or known to cause health risks; for other industrial chemicals, no data exist to confirm their safety because of flaws in 1976 TSCA. Under the 2016 Lautenberg amendments, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must evaluate chemicals against risk-based safety standards under enforceable deadlines, with an explicit mandate to identify and assess risks to susceptible and highly exposed populations. Effective public health protection requires EPA to implement the Lautenberg TSCA requirements by incorporating intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect susceptibility, adequately assessing exposure among vulnerable groups, and accurately identifying highly exposed groups. We recommend key scientific and risk assessment principles to inform health-protective chemical policy such as consideration of aggregate exposures from all pathways and, when data are lacking, the use of health-protective defaults

Population susceptibility: A vital consideration in chemical risk evaluation under the Lautenberg Toxic Substances Control Act.

The 2016 Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg TSCA) amended the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to mandate protection of susceptible and highly exposed populations. Program implementation entails a myriad of choices that can lead to different degrees of public health protections. Well-documented exposures to multiple industrial chemicals occur from air, soil, water, food, and products in our workplaces, schools, and homes. Many hazardous chemicals are associated with or known to cause health risks; for other industrial chemicals, no data exist to confirm their safety because of flaws in 1976 TSCA. Under the 2016 Lautenberg amendments, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must evaluate chemicals against risk-based safety standards under enforceable deadlines, with an explicit mandate to identify and assess risks to susceptible and highly exposed populations. Effective public health protection requires EPA to implement the Lautenberg TSCA requirements by incorporating intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect susceptibility, adequately assessing exposure among vulnerable groups, and accurately identifying highly exposed groups. We recommend key scientific and risk assessment principles to inform health-protective chemical policy such as consideration of aggregate exposures from all pathways and, when data are lacking, the use of health-protective defaults