Are 'forever chemicals' linked to pregnancy diabetes?
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances During Pregnancy and Gestational Diabetes: The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
A mixture of PFAS was associated with a 25% lower prevalence of gestational diabetes
PFAS are commonly believed to disrupt metabolism and increase disease risk, so a negative association with diabetes is counterintuitive and contradicts public health concerns.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t assume higher PFAS levels automatically mean higher diabetes risk during pregnancy.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
A mixture of PFAS was associated with a 25% lower prevalence of gestational diabetes
PFAS are commonly believed to disrupt metabolism and increase disease risk, so a negative association with diabetes is counterintuitive and contradicts public health concerns.
Practical Takeaways
Don’t assume higher PFAS levels automatically mean higher diabetes risk during pregnancy.
Publication
Journal
Diabetes Care
Year
2026
Authors
Anne P. Starling, Mohamad Burjak, Adaeze W. Nzegwu, Xiaoshuang Xun, J. Adgate, E. Barrett, Deborah H. Bennett, Leda Chatzi, Elena Colicino, D. Dabelea, A. Dunlop, S. Eick, S. Farzan, A. Ferrara, Abby F. Fleisch, S. Geiger, M. Hedderson, L. G. Kahn, M. Karagas, Rachel S. Kelly, Donghai Liang, P. Lin, Thomas G. O’Connor, Amy M. Padula, Alicia K. Peterson, Megan E. Romano, S. Sathyanarayana, Yeyi Zhu, D. Valvi, P. B. Smith, L. Newby, L. Adair, Lisa P. Jacobson, D. Catellier, Monica McGrath, Christian Douglas, Priya Duggal, Emily A. Knapp, Amii M. Kress, Courtney K. Blackwell, Maxwell A. Mansoff, Jin-Shei Lai, Emily Ho, D. Cella, R. Gershon, M. Macy, Suman R. Das, Jane E. Freedman, Simon Mallal, John A. McLean, Ravi V. Shah, M. Shilts, A. Alshawabkeh, J. Cordero, J. Meeker, L. Trasande, Carlos A. Camargo, Kohei Hasegawa, Zhaozhong Zhu, Ashley F Sullivan, D. Dabelea, W. Perng, Traci A. Bekelman, Greta Wilkening, S. Magzamen, B. Moore, Anne P. Starling, Deborah J. Rinehart, D. Koinis Mitchell, V. D’Sa, S. Deoni, Hans-Georg Mueller, C. Duarte, C. Monk, G. Canino, Jonathan Posner, Tenneill Murray, C. Lugo-Candelas, A. Dunlop, Patricia A. Brennan, C. Hockett, Amy J. Elliott, A. Ferrara, L. Croen, M. Hedderson, J. Ainsworth, L. Bacharier, C. Bendixsen, James E. Gern, D. R. Gold, T. Hartert, Daniel J. Jackson, Christine C. Johnson, C. L. Joseph, Meyer Kattan, G. K. Khurana Hershey, Lemanske, Susan V. Lynch, Rachel L. Miller, G. O’Connor, Carole Ober, D. Ownby, K. Rivera-Spoljaric, Patrick H. Ryan, C. Seroogy, A. M. Singh, Robert A. Wood, E. Zoratti, R. Habre, S. Farzan, Frank Gilliland, I. Hertz-Picciotto, Deborah H. Bennett, Julie B. Schweitzer, R. Schmidt, J. LaSalle, Alison E. Hipwell, C. Karr, N. Bush, K. LeWinn, S. Sathyanarayana, Qi Zhao, Frances A. Tylavsky, Kecia N Carroll, C. Loftus, L. Leve, Jody M. Ganiban, J. Neiderhiser, Scott T. Weiss, A. Litonjua, C. McEvoy, E. Spindel, R. Tepper, C. Newschaffer, Kristen Lyall, H. Volk, R. Landa, S. Ozonoff, J. Piven, H. Hazlett, Juhi Pandey, R. Schultz, S. Dager, K. Botteron, Daniel S. Messinger, Wendy L. Stone, Jennifer L. Ames, Thomas G. O’Connor, Richard K. Miller, E. Oken, M. R. Hacker, T. James-Todd, T. O'Shea, Rebecca C. Fry, Jean A. Frazier, Rachana Singh, C. Rollins, A. Montgomery, R. Vaidya, R. Joseph, L. Washburn, S. Gogcu, K. Bear, J. Rollins, Stephen R. Hooper, Genevieve L. Taylor, Wesley Jackson, A. Thompson, Julie L Daniels, M. Hernandez, Kun Lu, M. Msall, M. Lenski, R. Obeid, S. Pastyrnak, Elizabeth T. Jensen, Christina Sakai, Hudson Santos, Jean M. Kerver, N. Paneth, C. Barone, M. Elliott, D. Ruden, C. Fussman, Julie B. Herbstman, Amy Margolis, S. Schantz, S. Geiger, A. Aguiar, K. Tabb, Rita S. Strakovsky, Tracey J Woodruff, R. Morello-Frosch, Amy M. Padula, J. Stanford, C. Porucznik, A. Giardino, R. Wright, R. Wright, Brent Collett, N. Baumann-Blackmore, Ronald Gangnon, C. McKennan, Jo Wilson, Matt Altman, Judy L. Aschner, A. Stroustrup, S. Merhar, Paul E. Moore, G. Pryhuber, M. Hudak, Ann Marie Reynolds Lyndaker, A. Lampland, B. Rochelson, Sophia Jan, M. Blitz, M. Katzow, Zenobia Brown, Codruta Chiuzan, Timothy Rafael, Dawnette Lewis, Natalie Meirowitz, Brenda Poindexter, T. Gebretsadik, S. Osmundson, Jennifer K. Straughen, A. Eapen, Andrea E. Cassidy-Bushrow, G. Wegienka, A. Sitarik, K. Woodcroft, A. Urquhart, Albert M. Levin, Tisa M. Johnson-Hooper, Brent Davidson, Tengfei Ma, E. Barrett, Martin J. Blaser, M. Dominguez-Bello, Daniel B. Horton, Manuel Jimenez, Todd Rosen, K. Palomares, Lyndsay A. Avalos, Yeyi Zhu, Kelly J. Hunt, Roger B. Newman, M. S. Bloom, Mallory H. Alkis, James R. Roberts, Sunni L. Mumford, Heather H. Burris, Sara B. DeMauro, L. Yee, A. Hamvas, Antonia F. Olidipo, Andrew S. Haddad, Lisa R. Eiland, N. Spillane, Kirin N. Suri, S. Fisher, Jeffrey A. Goldstein, Leena B. Mithal, R. DeRegnier, Nathalie L. Maitre, R. Nguyen, Meghan Jaka, A. Sidebottom, M. Paidas, JoNell E. Potter, Natale Ruby, Lunthita M Duthely, Arumugam R. Jayakumar, Karen Young, Isabel Maldonado, Meghan Miller, Jonathan L Slaughter, Sarah A. Keim, Courtney D. Lynch, K. Venkatesh, K. W. Whitworth, E. Symanski, Thomas F. Northrup, Hector Mendez-Figueroa, Ricardo A. Mosquera, M. Karagas, Juliette C. Madan, Debra MacKenzie, J. Lewis, Brandon Rennie, Bennett L. Leventhal, Young Shin Kim, Somer L. Bishop, Sara S Nozadi, Li Luo, B. Lester, C. Marsit, Todd Everson, Cynthia M. Loncar, E. McGowan, S. Sheinkopf, B. Carter, J. Check, J. Helderman, C. Neal, L. Smith
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Claims (4)
These man-made chemicals stick around in the environment and in our bodies, and they might be harming our health — possibly leading to problems like trouble having kids, birth issues, liver disease, weak immune systems, and even cancer.
Pregnant women in the U.S. with more PFAS chemicals in their blood don’t seem to get gestational diabetes more often, so these chemicals might not raise the risk.
Pregnant women in the U.S. who had higher levels of a mix of six 'forever chemicals' in their bodies were less likely to develop gestational diabetes — each step up in exposure was linked to about a quarter less chance of getting it.
Some 'forever chemicals' might affect pregnancy sugar levels more in women who weighed less before pregnancy — and your pre-pregnancy weight could change how these chemicals impact your health while pregnant.