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Perfluorooctanoate and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Concentrations in Surface Water in Japan: Norimitsu Saito, et al. Institute for Environmental Sciences and Public Health of Iwate Prefecture—Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are synthetic surfactants used in Japan. An epidemiological study of workers exposed to PFOA revealed a significant increase in prostate cancer mortality. A cross‐sectional study of PFOA‐exposed workers showed that PFOA perturbs sex hormone homeostasis. We analyzed their concentrations in surface water samples collected from all over Japan by LC/MS with a solid phase extraction method. The lowest limits of detection (LOD) (ng/L) were 0.06 for PFOA and 0.04 for PFOS. The lowest limits of quantification (LOQ) (ng/L) were 0.1 for both analytes. The levels [geometric mean (GM); geometric standard deviation (GS)] (ng/L) of PFOA and PFOS in the surface waters were GM (GS): 0.97 (3.06) and 1.19 (2.44) for Hokkaido‐Tohoku (n=16); 2.84(3.56) and 3.69 (3.93) for Kanto (n=14); 2.50 (2.23) and 1.07 (2.36) for Chubu (n=17); 21.5 (2.28) and 5.73 (3.61) for Kinki (n=8); 1.51 (2.28) and 1.00 (3.42) for Chugoku (n=9); 1.93 (2.40) and 0.89 (3.09) for Kyushu‐Shikoku (n=15). The GM of PFOA in Kinki was significantly higher than in other areas (ANOVA p<0.01). Systematic searches of Yodo and Kanzaki Rivers revealed two highly contaminated sites, a public‐water‐disposal site for PFOA and an airport for PFOS. The former was estimated to release 18 kg of PFOA/d. PFOA in drinking water in Osaka city [40 (1.07) ng/L] was significantly higher than in other areas. The present study confirms that recognizable amounts of PFOA are released in the Osaka area and that people are exposed to PFOA through drinking water ingestion.

Department of Health and Environmental Sciences,Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine-P e r f l u o r o o c t a n e s u l f o n a t e ( P F O S ) a n d p e r f l u o r o o c t a n o a t e ( P F O A ) a r e i m p o r t a n t perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in various applications. Recently, it has been shown that these chemicals are widespread in the environment, wildlife and humans. But the kinds of factors that affect their levels in serum are unclear, and it is also not clear whether exposure to them is increasing or not. To investigate the impacts of time, geographical location and sex on the levels of these chemicals, we measured PFOS and PFOA concentrations in human sera samples collected both historically and recently in Miyagi, Akita and Kyoto Prefectures in Japan. The PFOS and PFOA levels in sera [Geometric Mean (Geometric Standard Deviation)] (µg/L) in 2003 ranged from 3.5 (2.9) in Miyagi to 28.1 (1.5) in Kyoto for PFOS and from 2.8 (1.5) to 12.4 (1.4) for PFOA. Historical samples collected from females demonstrated that PFOS and PFOA concentrations have increased by factors of 3 and 14, respectively, over the past 25 yr. There are large sex differences in PFOS and PFOA concentrations in serum at all locations. Furthermore, there are predominant regional differences for both PFOS and PFOA concentrations. In Kyoto the concentrations of PFOA in dwellers who had lived in the Kinki area for more than 2 yr were significantly higher than in people who had recently moved into the area, in both sexes. This finding suggests that there are sources of PFOA in the Kinki area that have raised the PFOA serum levels of its inhabitants. Further studies are needed to elucidate these sources in the Kinki area of Japan.

No abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a class of specialty chemicals used in a variety of applications, and has been found to be globally distributed in many living organisms including humans. Several analytical methods have been developed for determination of PFOS in environmental samples and biological matrices. However, these methods employ liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), an instrumentation which has limited accessibility because it is expensive to use and maintain. In the present study we present the development of a robust analytical method using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) in combination with solid phase extraction. The high yield and concentration of the present method enabled us to quantify PFOS as low as 0.1 ng/L. This method was applied to the determination of PFOS in 142 surface water samples collected from various geographic locations around Japan. The geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) (ng/L) for river samples (n = 126) was 2.37 (4.13), with a median of 1.68 and a range of 0.3-157 ng/L, and for coastal sea water samples (n = 16) was 1.52 (4.14), with a median of 1.21 and a range of 0.2-25.2 ng/L. However, the concentrations in most of the samples were much lower than the values reported in the US, except for those from the Jinzu (135.0 ng/L) and Tama (157 ng/L) Rivers. Because surface waters in the Ara (13.0-38.5 ng/L), Tama (0.7-157.0 ng/L), and Yodo (0.9-27.3 ng/L) Rivers, sources of drinking water for more than eight million people, were moderately contaminated with PFOS, more work is needed to assess exposure to PFOS.