PFAS Exposure During Pregnancy Linked to High Blood Pressure in Children: Study

Amid widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water, researchers caution the full scope of forever chemical side effects is still not fully known.

New research suggests that toxic “forever chemicals” can cross the placenta, potentially raising a child’s risk of developing high blood pressure and related health issues later in life.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School published the study in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) on June 12, warning that certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) appear to have a dose response relationship with childhood high blood pressure. 

In other words, the greater the prenatal exposure to these chemicals, the higher the likelihood that the child will be diagnosed with high blood pressure before age 18.

PFAS Exposure Health Risks

The category of chemicals known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals” as they are often called, include more than 9,000 synthetic compounds, which have been widely used for decades for a wide variety of manufacturing processes due to their resistance to grease, oil and water. The substances are known for their ability to persist in the environment, and the human body, for decades.

Many of the current health concerns regarding these chemicals arise from widespread water contamination across U.S. communities, which stem from the prolonged use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) by firefighters and the military to combat fuel-based fires. Over the years, these foams, which contain high levels of PFAS, were released into the environment during training drills and emergency responses. 

Exposure to PFAS and AFFF have been linked to numerous health issues, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, impacts on the body’s hormone system and other harmful effects. As a result, thousands of PFAS water contamination lawsuits have been filed against the chemicals’ manufacturers, including 3M, DuPont, Chemguard, Inc., Tyco Fire Products and others.

Additionally, firefighters and other military personnel have filed numerous AFFF lawsuits, alleging that their routine exposure to these chemicals in the firefighting foam caused them to develop certain cancers and other serious health conditions.

According to the new study, PFAS exposure can begin having negative health side effects even before one is born.

The research team, led by Dr. Xiaobin Wang, analyzed data from nearly 1,100 children from the Boston Birth Cohort, looking at the PFAS levels measured in their plasma shortly after birth, and then compared those levels to their systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements from the ages of 3 to 18.

The findings indicate that PFAS chemicals known as perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDeA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA) can be linked to higher levels of systolic blood pressure as the children aged. However, each chemical had different impacts on children based on their age, weight, sex and ethnicity, the researchers determined.

“In male children, each doubling of perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS) was associated with a 9% higher risk of elevated BP at ages 6 to 12 years and a 17% higher risk at 13 to 18 years, with no increased risk at 3 to 5 years. PFHpS was associated with a dose‐dependent divergence in BP trajectories beginning at age 13 years.”

-Dr. Xiaobin Wang, Prenatal Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposures and Longitudinal Blood Pressure Measurements in Children Aged 3 to 18 Years

The researchers concluded that, overall, prenatal exposure to certain PFAS led to higher blood pressure later in life, “with stronger associations in adolescents, male children, and Black children.” They warned that prenatal exposure may have even more long-term, and even intergenerational and latent effects on hypertension that have not yet been discovered.

Federal PFAS Exposure Lawsuits

More than 10,000 lawsuits involving PFAS exposure have been filed by firefighters, residents who were exposed to contaminated water, and communities who are being forced to clean the chemicals out of their drinking water systems. These have been centralized into a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel in the District of South Carolina for pretrial proceedings.

The lawsuits accuse the chemical and safety equipment manufacturers of failing to warn the public about the long-term health risks posed by PFAS exposure, pointing to mounting evidence, like in this most recent study.

As part of coordinated pretrial proceedings, a group of bellwether trials is being prepared to evaluate how juries may respond to the evidence. The first trial is scheduled to begin in October 2025, and will focus on claims involving individuals who developed cancer after drinking PFAS-contaminated water near military bases and firefighting training facilities.

While the outcomes of these early trials won’t be binding on other cases, they are expected to influence future settlement negotiations and provide insight into potential AFFF lawsuit payout values.