FRIDAY, July 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or "forever chemicals," during pregnancy and early life is associated with increased intestinal inflammation during childhood, according to a study published online July 10 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Vishal Midya, Ph.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues examined the impact of early-life PFAS exposure on later intestinal inflammation. The analysis included early-life samples from mother-offspring dyads across three cohorts, including dried blood spots from offspring (84 participants) and cord blood (93 participants) from two prospective birth cohorts of mothers with and without inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and maternal serum during pregnancy (14 participants) from a birth cohort.
The researchers found that higher levels of PFAS mixtures were associated with higher fecal calprotectin (FC) between 1 and 6 years in both dried blood spot and cord blood analyses (covariate-adjusted β estimates for change in log-transformed fecal calprotectin at age 6 years per decile increase in the PFAS mixture, 0.44 and 0.69, respectively). Similarly, in maternal serum, higher levels of PFAS mixtures were associated with higher FC in late childhood (β, 0.19). Among mother-offspring dyads with maternal IBD, there was a higher likelihood of higher perfluoro-1-octane sulfonamide acetic acid and 3-perfluorohexyl-2-hydroxypropyl acrylate levels in dried blood spots and cord blood, respectively, versus mother-offspring dyads without maternal IBD. These PFAS metabolites were also the top contributors to offspring FC.
"By studying PFAS as mixtures rather than individual chemicals, we were able to better reflect how people are exposed in everyday life," Midya said in a statement. "The consistency of our findings across multiple biological samples and three independent birth cohorts strengthens the evidence that early-life PFAS exposure may have lasting effects on intestinal health."
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.
