Perfluorooctanesulfonate and Related Fluorochemicals in Human Blood Samples from China

Abstract

Perfluorooctanesulfonylfluoride (POSF)-based compounds have been manufactured and used in a variety of industrial applications. These compounds degrade to perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) which is regarded as a persistent endstage metabolite and is found to accumulate in tissues of humans and wildlife. PFOS, perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) have been found in human sera from the United States. In this study, concentrations of PFHxS, perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS), PFOS, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), PFOA, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA), and PFOSA were measured in 85 samples of whole human blood collected from nine cities (eight provinces) in China, including Shenyang (Liaoning), Beijing (Hebei), Zhengzhou (Henan), Jintan (Jiangsu), Wuhan (Hubei), Zhoushan (Zhejiang), Guiyang (Guizhou), Xiamen (Fujian), and Fuzhou (Fujian). Among the 10 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) measured, PFOS was the predominant compound. The mean concentration of PFOS was greatest in samples collected from Shenyang (79.2 ng/mL) and least in samples from Jintan (3.72 ng/mL). PFHxS was the next most abundant perfluorochemical in the samples. No age-related differences in the concentrations of PFOA, PFOS, PFOSA, and PFHxS were observed. Gender-related differences were found, with males higher for PFOS and PFHxS, and females higher in PFUnDA. Concentrations of PFHxS were positively correlated with those of PFOS, while concentrations of PFNA, PFDA, and PFUnDA were positively correlated with those of PFOA. There were differences in the concentration profiles (percentage composition) of various PFCs in the samples among the nine cities.

China's water pollution by persistent organic pollutants

“…In addition, approximately 128 tons of PFOS and its derivatives were used annually in production of aqueous film forming foam (100 tons), by the chrome plating industry (25 tons) and for sulfluramid production (3 tons) (POPRC, 2008). As a result, PFOS and PFOA have been detected in samples of water, tissues, and blood collected in China (Dai et al, 2006;Gulkowka et al, 2006;So et al, 2007;Yeung et al, 2006).…”

Effects of fluorotelomer alcohol 8:2 FTOH on steroidogenesis in H295R cells: Targeting the cAMP signalling cascade

“…H295R cells were seeded into 24-well plates (Corning Life Sciences) at a concentration of 3 × 10 5 cells/ml. After exposure for 24 h, the cells and medium were collected for metabolites extraction using previous method with some modifications (Yeung et al, 2006), followed by HPLC-MS/MS analysis. Briefly, the sample and 2 mL of methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were added to a polypropylene tube, and the mixture was shaken for 20 min and centrifuged for 15 min at 3000g.…”

Spatial distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds in coastal waters from the East to South China Sea

“…Per-and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are persistent against the typical environmental degradation processes and have been found ubiquitously in water (Saito et al, 2003;Schultz et al, 2004;So et al, 2004;Yamashita et al, 2005;Ahrens et al, 2010a,b;Busch et al, 2010), air (Martin et al, 2002;Stock et al, 2004Stock et al, , 2007Jahnke et al, 2007), sediment (Bao et al, 2009(Bao et al, , 2010Gómez et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2011), sludge (Higgins et al, 2005), precipitation , wildlife (Giesy and Kannan, 2001;Li et al, 2008a,b) and humans (Yeung et al, 2006(Yeung et al, , 2008Jin et al, 2007) around the globe. Because of their chemical characteristics, including extraordinary stability, hydrophobicity, oleophobicity and surfactant characteristics, many PFCs have been broadly applied to industrial and domestic production in the past half-century (OECD, 2002;Prevedouros et al, 2006).…”