Environ. Sci. Technol. 2009, 43, 4194–4199
Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals in Pooled Blood Serum from Infants, Children, and Adults in Australia L E I S A - M A R E E L . T O M S , * ,† ANTONIA M. CALAFAT,‡ KAYOKO KATO,‡ JACK THOMPSON,† FIONA HARDEN,§ ¨ DIN,‡ PETER HOBSON,| ANDREAS SJO † AND JOCHEN F. MUELLER The University of Queensland, National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Queensland 4108, Australia, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3724, School of Life Science, Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point, and Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology, Whitmore Street, Taringa, Queensland, 4068, Australia
Received January 26, 2009. Revised manuscript received March 22, 2009. Accepted March 25, 2009.
Polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) have been used worldwide for more than 50 years in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. Limited data exist on human exposure to PFCs in the Southern Hemisphere. Human blood serum collected in southeast Queensland, Australia, in 2006-2007 from 2420 donors was pooled according to age (cord blood, 0-0.5, 0.6-1, 1.1-1.5, 1.6-2, 2.1-2.5, 2.6-3, 3.1-3.5, 3.6-4, 4.1-6, 6.1-9, 9.1-12, 12.1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, and >60 years) and gender and was analyzed for eight PFCs. Across all pools, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was detected at the highest mean concentration (15.2 ng/mL) followed by perfluorooctanoate (PFOA, 6.4 ng/mL), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS, 3.1 ng/ mL), perfluorononanoate (PFNA, 0.8 ng/mL), 2-(N-methylperfluorooctance sulfonamide) acetate (Me-PFOSA-AcOH, 0.66 ng/mL), and perfluorodecanoate (PFDeA, 0.29 ng/ mL). Perfluorooctane sulfonamide was detected in only 24% of the pools, and 2-(N-ethylperfluorooctane sulfonamide) acetate was detected in only one. PFOS concentrations were significantly higher in pools from adult males than from adult females (p ) 0.002); no gender differences were apparent in the pools from children (60 years of age (36). The aims of the current study were to confirm the previous results (36) of PFCs in urban regions, to assess the potential changes in PFC human body burden between the current and previous study, and to investigate the age at which PFC concentrations peaked in children younger than 16 years of age. These data, together with concurrent environmental monitoring in the area, would lead to a better understanding of the sources and exposure pathways of PFCs in Australia.
Material and Methods
* Corresponding author phone: 617 3274 9060; fax: 617 3274 9003; e-mail:
[email protected]. † The University of Queensland. ‡ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. § Queensland University of Technology. | Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology. 4194
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / VOL. 43, NO. 11, 2009
Samples. Individual human blood sera were collected in 2006-2007 from southeast Queensland. This area is mostly urban with some industrial activities and with an estimated population of 2.8 million (37). Deidentified serum samples were obtained from Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology from surplus stored sera that had been collected as part of routine pathology testing. Participants’ age and gender and the date of blood collection were available for each sample; gender was not known for the cord blood samples. Prior to pooling, 10.1021/es900272u CCC: $40.75
2009 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 04/27/2009
TABLE 1. Summary Results of PFC Concentrations (ng/mL) in 84 Pools of Human Blood Serum
Et-PFOSA-AcOHa Me-PFOSA-AcOH PFDeA PFHxS PFNA PFOA PFOS PFOSA
frequency of detection
LOD
range
mean
standard deviation
median
1% 94% 90% 95% 100% 100% 100% 24%
0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
