Congener‐Specific Associations of Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances With Obesity‐Metabolic Phenotypes: A Multimodel Analysis
Authors' conclusion
Although PFAS mixture exposure may not increase the risks of obesity and metabolic abnormalities, congener-specific effects on distinct phenotypes indicate the necessity of analyzing specific compositional profiles of PFAS exposure when evaluating endocrine toxicity.
Study context
- Population
- Adults from NHANES 2003–2018
- Participants
- 8,692 adults
- Exposure
- PFAS exposure and obesity-metabolic phenotypes
- Outcome
- Associations of PFAS with obesity-metabolic phenotypes
Methodological detailsmultimodel analysis, network toxicology and molecular docking
- Multimodel analysis
- Network toxicology and molecular docking
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO)
- OR (PFUA) 0.60; P < 0.05
- Metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO)
- OR (PFUA) 0.55; P < 0.05
- Metabolically unhealthy non-obesity (MUNO)
- OR (PFUA) 0.79; P < 0.05
- MHO
- OR weighted quantile sum (WQS) (PFAS mixture) 0.67; P < 0.001
- MHO
- log[OR] quantile g-computation (Qgcomp) (PFAS mixture) −0.48; P < 0.001
- MUO
- OR WQS (PFAS mixture) 0.81; P < 0.001
- MUO
- log[OR] Qgcomp (PFAS mixture) −0.24; P < 0.001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
PFAS-BMI relationship by metabolic status (stratified Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR))
- Inverse PFAS-BMI relationship independent of metabolic status
Mechanism (network toxicology, molecular docking)
- PPAR signaling pathway predicted to link PFAS and obesity-metabolic phenotypes
Original publication
Congener‐Specific Associations of Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances With Obesity‐Metabolic Phenotypes: A Multimodel Analysis. Obesity (Silver Spring). Published 10 July 2026. doi:10.
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