Women who reported higher levels of exposure to PFDE, a long-chained PFAS compound, had double the odds of a previous melanoma diagnosis.

Exposure to PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and phenols may be linked to diagnoses of melanoma and other cancers, new research suggests.

Women who reported higher levels of exposure to PFDE, a long-chained PFAS compound, had double the odds of a previous melanoma diagnosis; women with higher exposure to two other long-chained PFAS compounds, PFNA and PFUA, had nearly double the odds of a prior melanoma diagnosis, the study showed.

The study also showed a link between PFNA and a prior diagnosis of uterine cancer; and women with higher exposure to phenols, such as BPA and 2,5-dichlorophenol, had higher odds of prior ovarian cancer diagnoses.

For the study, researchers used data from blood and urine samples from more than 10,000 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They investigated current exposure to phenols and PFAS in relation to previous cancer diagnoses.

The study appears in the Sept. 17, 2023 issue of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

“These findings highlight the need to consider PFAS and phenols as whole classes of environmental risk factors for cancer risk in women,” says Max Aung, PhD, associate professor of environmental health at USC Keck School of Medicine. Aung conducted the research while at the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and is the study's lead author.

The study also identified racial differences. Associations between various PFAS and ovarian and uterine cancers were observed only among white women, while associations between a PFAS called MPAH and a phenol called BPF and breast cancer were observed only among non-white women.