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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Oct 15.
Published in final edited form as: Environ Res. 2023 Jul 13;235:116651. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116651

Table 3.

Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for associations between PFAS and high (>95th percentile) levels of liver function biomarkers, NHANES 2003–2016 a,b,c

ALT AST ALP GGT TB
N OR 95%CI N OR 95%CI N OR 95%CI N OR 95%CI N OR 95%CI
PFOA
≤ 1.79 159 Ref. 172 224 168 120
1.80 – 2.89 152 1.50 1.05 2.15 145 1.08 0.76 1.52 155 0.66 0.50 0.88 158 1.17 0.84 1.64 104 0.77 0.54 1.09
2.80 – 4.66 133 1.09 0.76 1.57 130 1.02 0.74 1.41 171 0.75 0.56 1.02 153 1.18 0.81 1.71 150 1.06 0.75 1.48
>4.66 129 1.45 0.99 2.12 137 1.28 0.92 1.79 138 0.67 0.48 0.93 153 1.29 0.88 1.89 158 1.17 0.81 1.70
p-trend d 0.18 0.13 0.10 0.24 0.13
continuous e 573 1.17 1.03 1.32 584 1.15 1.02 1.30 688 0.83 0.75 0.93 632 1.08 0.96 1.21 532 1.09 0.96 1.25
PFOS
≤ 5.30 177 Ref. 170 190 160 107
5.31 – 10.09 150 0.97 0.68 1.38 146 0.90 0.64 1.27 149 0.60 0.44 0.82 159 1.07 0.74 1.56 113 0.99 0.67 1.46
10.10 – 18.40 141 0.77 0.52 1.14 140 0.81 0.59 1.10 172 0.65 0.46 0.93 177 1.03 0.77 1.37 148 1.29 0.89 1.86
>18.40 105 0.80 0.52 1.22 128 0.73 0.50 1.07 177 0.59 0.39 0.87 136 0.75 0.51 1.10 164 1.57 1.01 2.43
p-trend d 0.24 0.11 0.08 0.04 0.02
continuous e 573 0.98 0.88 1.09 584 0.95 0.86 1.05 688 0.83 0.74 0.92 632 0.94 0.86 1.02 532 1.14 1.01 1.28
PFHxS
≤ 0.90 176 Ref. 169 217 181 120
0.91 – 1.59 134 1.06 0.75 1.49 139 1.00 0.72 1.37 153 0.86 0.63 1.16 145 1.10 0.81 1.50 121 1.23 0.87 1.74
1.60 – 2.79 133 1.00 0.67 1.47 146 0.88 0.63 1.23 168 0.67 0.49 0.92 169 0.97 0.69 1.38 152 1.48 1.08 2.02
>2.80 130 1.16 0.81 1.64 130 0.96 0.68 1.37 150 0.68 0.49 0.93 137 0.95 0.67 1.33 139 1.37 0.99 1.90
p-trend d 0.41 0.83 0.02 0.56 0.09
continuous e 573 1.09 1.00 1.19 584 1.00 0.91 1.09 688 0.86 0.80 0.93 632 0.98 0.90 1.07 532 1.14 1.05 1.25
PFNA
≤ 0.60 157 Ref. 175 150 166 114
0.61 – 0.92 135 0.86 0.63 1.16 122 0.71 0.49 1.01 150 0.83 0.60 1.15 126 0.81 0.55 1.20 117 1.07 0.76 1.50
0.93 – 1.47 138 0.95 0.72 1.25 122 0.76 0.55 1.04 155 0.85 0.63 1.14 155 1.01 0.74 1.39 142 1.13 0.82 1.57
>1.48 143 1.14 0.84 1.56 165 1.05 0.77 1.45 173 0.83 0.61 1.13 185 1.07 0.77 1.49 159 1.40 0.96 2.02
p-trend d 0.22 0.32 0.34 0.36 0.05
continuous e 573 1.08 0.95 1.24 584 1.02 0.90 1.16 688 0.92 0.81 1.03 632 1.04 0.93 1.15 532 1.12 0.99 1.27
PFDA
≤0.14 171 Ref. 176 191 191 122
0.15 – 0.20 152 0.84 0.62 1.12 138 0.76 0.56 1.03 191 0.73 0.55 0.97 157 0.80 0.58 1.09 130 0.86 0.61 1.19
0.21 – 0.39 107 1.00 0.73 1.38 96 0.81 0.57 1.14 94 0.53 0.37 0.77 93 0.62 0.46 0.84 98 1.07 0.73 1.58
>0.39 143 0.91 0.67 1.23 174 0.91 0.66 1.24 184 0.72 0.53 0.98 191 0.85 0.62 1.16 182 1.20 0.86 1.67
p-trend d 0.80 0.85 0.07 0.40 0.10
continuous e 573 1.02 0.91 1.14 584 0.99 0.88 1.10 688 0.89 0.79 1.00 632 0.97 0.87 1.07 532 1.09 0.96 1.24
a:

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA)

b:

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin (TB)

c:

Adjusted for age, age2, gender, race/ethnicity, body mass index, poverty income ratio, education level, smoking status and survey cycle

d:

Linear trend tests were conducted on a continuous variable obtained from the median of each PFAS within each quartile.

e:

Continuous models reflect association per 1-unit increase in serum PFAS on the log base 2 scale, corresponding to an approximate doubling in analyte levels.