Associations between dietary patterns and environmental contaminants in children from the Norwegian Environmental Biobank: A cross-sectional analysis

Diet is a well-known source of environmental contaminants. This cross-sectional study explored children's dietary patterns and their association with contaminant exposure in the Norwegian Environmental Biobank. Parent-completed questionnaires provided data on children's frequency of intake of 36 foods and beverages, and socio-demographics. Several environmental contaminants were measured in urine, plasma, and whole blood from the children. Data were available for 658 children aged 7-14 years. Two dietary patterns, denoted "healthy" and "unhealthy," were identified using data driven factor analysis. We examined associations between child dietary patterns and contaminant concentrations using linear regression, adjusting for participant characteristics. The healthy pattern was positively associated with plasma perfluorononanoate (PFNA) concentration, whereas the unhealthy pattern was positively associated with urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentration. Likelihood of exceeding health-based guidance value (HBM-GV) was examined using generalized linear model Poisson regression. The sum of the four most prevalent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Ʃ4PFAS) increased with higher healthy pattern scores, with a relative risk (RR) of 1.18 (95 % CI: 1.06, 1.31) per standard deviation. Multiple regression analyses showed that egg and fish/shellfish consumption were associated with higher Ʃ4PFAS, with 4 % and 5 % higher concentrations per additional weekly serving, respectively (P < 0.001). For the sum of urinary di(isononyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (ƩDINCH), 10 % higher concentration was observed per weekly serving of sweets/desserts. The urinary BPA concentration was 3 % higher per extra weekly serving of fruit juice (P = 0.001). These results highlight the need for societal measures to reduce contaminant exposure through food.