Inter-individual, inter-city, and temporal trends of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in human milk from Swedish mothers between 1972 and 2016

Abstract

Inter-individual, inter-city, and temporal trends of 19 per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were investigated in human milk collected in Stockholm (1972Stockholm ( -2016 and Gothenburg (2007Gothenburg ( -2015, Sweden. Overall these data indicate that exposure to some legacy PFASs via breastmilk is declining, presumably as a result of regulation and phase-out initiatives. However, increasing concentrations for other PFASs and a shift in the overall PFAS profile in recent years may pose an ongoing health risk to infants. Environmental signicancePer-and polyuoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are anthropogenic substances which contaminate human blood globally. In breastfed infants, human milk is among the most important sources of PFAS exposure. Characterizing PFAS levels and time trends in breast milk is therefore important for assessing risks to infants. In the present work, we analyzed 19 PFASs (plus branched isomers) in human breastmilk from Stockholm (1972Stockholm ( -2016 and Gothenburg (2007Gothenburg ( -2015 and examined inter-individual and inter-city differences, along with temporal trends using change-point detection. Overall, concentrations, proles, and interindividual variability were similar in milk from Stockholm and Gothenburg. Concentrations of long chain peruorinated carboxylic acids and peruorohexane sulfonate increased in human milk from Stockholm over the entire monitoring period, while for others PFASs, such as peruorooctane sulfonate, concentrations have decreased signicantly over the last 10 years. These changes probably reect increased manufacturing/use for some PFASs, and international phase-out initiatives and regulation for others. Transformation of PFAA-precursors and/or differences in half-lives may also play a role in inuencing the observed trends for some PFASs. Given infants' sensitive developmental stage, the occurrence of PFASs in breastmilk is a concern, in particular for those substances displaying increasing time trends over the last decade.

Temporal trends of suspect- and target-per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), extractable organic fluorine (EOF) and total fluorine (TF) in pooled serum from first-time mothers in Uppsala, Sweden, 1996–2017

“…33 The trends and CP for PFOA observed here also coincide with those observed for PFOA in human milk sampled from 1972-2016 in Stockholm (CP ¼ 2000). 31 The change point for C9, C11, C13 PFCAs (i.e. beginning 2007-2009) also indicates that exposure sources of these PFCAs have been restricted, but the delay relative to PFOA suggests that regulation of these substances occurred later than PFOA.…”

Temporal Trends (1981–2013) of Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Total Fluorine in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

“…As a result of the phase‐out of PFOS by the 3M Company during 2000 and 2002, declines in PFOS and PFOA concentrations have been observed in human blood (Haug et al ; Kato et al ; Glynn et al ; Olsen et al ; Nøst et al ; Gebbink et al ), human milk (Sundström et al ; Nyberg et al ), and food items including fish from the Baltic (Johansson et al ; Gebbink et al ). However, increasing PFAS concentrations have been reported in some wildlife species from the Baltic region, for example in otters (Roos et al ), herring, and white‐tailed sea eagle (Faxneld et al ).…”

Maternal serum levels of perfluoroalkyl substances in early pregnancy and offspring birth weight

“…Even more important, however, is that PFASs also include many other compounds more recently introduced, for which community exposure is not declining as it is for PFOS and PFOA. 7 There has been very limited research on the link between these PFAS compounds and BW, and most previous studies were small. Many of the published findings seem to be inconsistent, partly due to the variable times of collecting the biospecimen for measurements (e.g., late trimester during the pregnancy or by delivery).…”