PFAS exposure in kids: how early chemicals affect puberty and bone health
Official title: Prospective associations of childhood PFAS with metabolomic profiles, pubertal timing, and bone health
Funded at Mainehealth · NIH-11447487 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This NIH grant studies how common PFAS chemicals in children’s blood might delay puberty and affect bone health, using data from a large pediatric cohort.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mainehealth NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Portland, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2019 |
| Project end | June 30, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $875,521 |
| NIH project number | 2R01ES030101-06A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11447487 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children and adolescents with varying levels of PFAS exposure who are willing to provide blood samples and health data.
✕Less likely to help
Children without PFAS exposure data or those not participating in metabolic profiling may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
Researchers will analyze blood samples from thousands of children to link PFAS levels with puberty timing and bone density during adolescence. They will use advanced metabolomics to see how PFAS exposure changes small molecules in the blood and how these changes relate to puberty and peak bone mass. The study builds on prior work and uses the ALSPAC cohort to follow children from early life through adulthood, aiming to identify potential pathways and targets for intervention. The findings could help doctors understand how environmental chemicals influence bone health and development in youths.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could improve guidance on reducing PFAS exposure and help clinicians monitor and protect bone health during adolescence.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked higher PFAS with later puberty and lower bone accrual; this project aims to extend those findings with larger cohorts and metabolomic data.
Where this research is happening
-
Mainehealth
Portland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fleisch, Abby — Mainehealth
- Study coordinator: Fleisch, Abby
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.