We investigated temporal trends of blood serum levels of 13 perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA) in primiparous women (N = 413) from Uppsala County, Sweden, sampled 3 weeks after delivery 1996-2010. Levels of the short-chain perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) increased 11%/y and 8.3%/y, respectively, and levels of the long-chain perfluorononanoate (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) increased 4.3%/y and 3.8%/y, respectively. Concomitantly, levels of FOSA (22%/y), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS, 8.4%/y), perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS, 10%/y), and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA, 3.1%/y) decreased. Thus, one or several sources of exposure to the latter compounds have been reduced or eliminated, whereas exposure to the former compounds has recently increased. We explored if maternal levels of PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA during the early nursing period are representative for the fetal development period, using serial maternal serum samples, including cord blood (N = 19). PFAA levels in maternal serum sampled during pregnancy and the nursing period as well as in cord blood were strongly correlated. Strongest correlations between cord blood levels and maternal levels were observed for maternal serum sampled shortly before or after the delivery (r = 0.70-0.89 for PFOS and PFOA). A similar pattern was observed for PFNA, although the correlations were less strong due to levels close to the method detection limit in cord blood.

No abstract

Guillemot eggs from the Baltic Sea, sampled between 1969 and 2001, were analyzed for tetra- and pentabromodiphenyl ethers (2,2',4,4'-tetraBDE (BDE-47), 2,2',4,4',5-pentaBDE (BDE-99), and 2,2',4,4',6-pentaBDE (BDE-100)), and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). This temporal trend study indicates that the concentrations of the polybrominated diphenyl ether compounds increased from the 1970s to the 1980s, peaking around the mid- to the late-1980s. These peaks are then followed by a rapid decrease in concentrations during the rest of the study period, with the concentrations of the major BDE congener below 100 ng/g lipid weight at the end of the period. This corresponds to less than 10% of its peak values. The concentrations of HBCD show a different pattern over time. After a peak in the middle of the 1970s followed by a decrease, the concentrations increased during the latter part of the 1980s. During the recent 10-yr period no significant change has occurred, and the annual mean concentrations are more or less stable at a higher level as compared to the beginning of the study period.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have recently been identified as ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Although they have been produced for 50 years, little is known about when they first appeared in the environment and how their concentrations have changed over time, particularly in response to the phase-out of PFOS, which began in 2000. In this study temporal trends in the concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in the Baltic Sea marine environmentwere measured using archived guillemot eggs. Samples collected from Stora Karlsö (Sweden) between 1968 and 2003 were received from an environmental specimen bank and concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were analyzed using HPLC coupled to ESI-MS/MS. PFOA was not detected in any of the samples (LOD 3 ng/g), but there was an almost 30-fold increase in PFOS concentrations in the guillemot eggs during the time period, from 25 ng/g in 1968 to 614 ng/g in 2003 (wet weight). Regression analysis indicated a significant trend, increasing on average between 7 and 11% per year. A sharp peak in PFOS concentrations was observed in 1997 followed by decreasing levels up to 2002, but this cannot be linked to the PFOS phase-out, which occurred at the end of this period.