Halogenated flame retardant exposure was associated with pediatric gut microbiome profiles in a Canadian cohort.
10 affiliations
- 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.
- 2Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- 3Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- 4Department of Environmental Health and Department of Molecular Metabolism, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
- 5Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA.
- 6Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Health Data Science and Biostatistics, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
- 7Département de Pédiatrie, Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
- 8Département de Chimie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
- 9Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
- 10Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
Environmental chemical exposures have been linked to gut microbiome dysregulation and adverse health outcomes in children. Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) are persistent chemicals with substantial early-life exposure, yet evidence on their effects on the pediatric gut microbiome remains limited. We examined associations between HFR exposures and the gut microbiome among 8-12-y-old children from the GESTation and Environment (GESTE) cohort in Sherbrooke, Canada. In a multi-matrix, multi-omics design, 10 HFRs were quantified in plasma (n = 140) and stool (n = 182), with shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing characterized microbial species and functional pathways. After false discovery rate correction, plasma BDE-47 and BDE-99 were inversely associated with Clostridium sp. CAG:221 and Bacteroides dorei, respectively (q < 0.2). Stool BDE-153 was negatively associated with short-chain fatty acid-producing taxa, including Eubacterium spp. and Roseburia intestinalis, and positively associated with Alistipes putredinis and Faecalibacterium spp. Stool BDE-153 and anti-DP were associated with higher activity of pathways involved in phospholipid homeostasis and 4-aminobutanoate degradation. Mediation analysis suggested that Faecalibacterium spp. partly mediated the association between stool BDE-153 and cytidine diphosphate-diacylglycerol biosynthesis. Our findings suggest that childhood HFR exposure is associated with alterations in gut microbiome composition and function, with potential implications for pediatric health.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026halogenated,
title = {{Halogenated flame retardant exposure was associated with pediatric gut microbiome profiles in a Canadian cohort.}},
author = {Yidan Zhang and Feng Gao and Peng Gao and Yihan Fan and Xinlei Wang and Yuqiu Yang and Anthony Gagnon and Guillaume Martinez and Virginie Gillet and Jiping Zhu and Jean-Philippe Bellenger and Andrea A Baccarelli and Larissa Takser and Yike Shen},
journal = {Gut microbes reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1080/29933935.2026.2747517},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904169},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Halogenated flame retardant exposure was associated with pediatric gut microbiome profiles in a Canadian cohort.
AU - Yidan Zhang
AU - Feng Gao
AU - Peng Gao
AU - Yihan Fan
AU - Xinlei Wang
AU - Yuqiu Yang
AU - Anthony Gagnon
AU - Guillaume Martinez
AU - Virginie Gillet
AU - Jiping Zhu
AU - Jean-Philippe Bellenger
AU - Andrea A Baccarelli
AU - Larissa Takser
AU - Yike Shen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/18
JO - Gut microbes reports
DO - 10.1080/29933935.2026.2747517
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904169
AB - Environmental chemical exposures have been linked to gut microbiome dysregulation and adverse health outcomes in children. Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) are persistent chemicals with substantial early-life exposure, yet evidence on their effects on the pediatric gut microbiome remains limited. We examined associations between HFR exposures and the gut microbiome among 8-12-y-old children from the GESTation and Environment (GESTE) cohort in Sherbrooke, Canada. In a multi-matrix, multi-omics design, 10 HFRs were quantified in plasma (n = 140) and stool (n = 182), with shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing characterized microbial species and functional pathways. After false discovery rate correction, plasma BDE-47 and BDE-99 were inversely associated with Clostridium sp. CAG:221 and Bacteroides dorei, respectively (q < 0.2). Stool BDE-153 was negatively associated with short-chain fatty acid-producing taxa, including Eubacterium spp. and Roseburia intestinalis, and positively associated with Alistipes putredinis and Faecalibacterium spp. Stool BDE-153 and anti-DP were associated with higher activity of pathways involved in phospholipid homeostasis and 4-aminobutanoate degradation. Mediation analysis suggested that Faecalibacterium spp. partly mediated the association between stool BDE-153 and cytidine diphosphate-diacylglycerol biosynthesis. Our findings suggest that childhood HFR exposure is associated with alterations in gut microbiome composition and function, with potential implications for pediatric health.
SN - 2993-3935
ER -