A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)?

Wang, Zhanyun; DeWitt, Jamie C.; Higgins, Christopher P.; Cousins, Ian T.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04806

Cited by 1,150 publications

(861 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…It has been transported in wastewater and rivers to the global oceans as a terminal sink after use in furniture and carpet coatings, food packaging, nonstick cookware, outdoor clothing/gear, and industrial applications since the 1950s [Wang et al, 2017]. It has been transported in wastewater and rivers to the global oceans as a terminal sink after use in furniture and carpet coatings, food packaging, nonstick cookware, outdoor clothing/gear, and industrial applications since the 1950s [Wang et al, 2017].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3M voluntarily discontinued manufacturing of the PFOS parent chemical between 2000 and 2002, amid concerns about human and ecological health impacts [Land et al, 2015]. Some PFOS has been produced in Asia after 2000, but most chemical manufacturing has shifted to other fluorinated compounds with different carbon chain lengths and head groups in the larger family of polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) [Wang et al, 2017]. The phaseout in North American PFOS production adds to its potential utility as a tracer for ocean water mass ages and circulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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North Atlantic Deep Water formation inhibits high Arctic contamination by continental perfluorooctane sulfonate discharges

Zhang

Dassuncao

Lohmann

et al. 2017

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is an aliphatic fluorinated compound with eight carbon atoms that is extremely persistent in the environment and can adversely affect human and ecological health. The stability, low reactivity, and high water solubility of PFOS combined with the North American phaseout in production around the year 2000 make it a potentially useful new tracer for ocean circulation. Here we characterize processes affecting the lifetime and accumulation of PFOS in the North Atlantic Ocean and transport to sensitive Arctic regions by developing a 3‐D simulation within the MITgcm. The model captures variability in measurements across biogeographical provinces (R2 = 0.90, p = 0.01). In 2015, the North Atlantic PFOS reservoir was equivalent to 60% of cumulative inputs from the North American and European continents (1400 Mg). Cumulative inputs to the Arctic accounted for 30% of continental discharges, while the remaining 10% was transported to the tropical Atlantic and other regions. PFOS concentrations declined rapidly after 2002 in the surface mixed layer (half‐life: 1–2 years) but are still increasing below 1000 m depth. During peak production years (1980–2000), plumes of PFOS‐enriched seawater were transported to the sub‐Arctic in energetic surface ocean currents. However, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and deep ocean transport returned a substantial fraction of this northward transport (20%, 530 Mg) to southern latitudes and reduced cumulative inputs to the Arctic (730 Mg) by 70%. Weakened AMOC due to climate change is thus likely to increase the magnitude of persistent bioaccumulative pollutants entering the Arctic Ocean.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

North Atlantic Deep Water formation inhibits high Arctic contamination by continental perfluorooctane sulfonate discharges

Zhang

Dassuncao

Lohmann

et al. 2017

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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“…Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of more than 3000 compounds, where perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates – defined by the addition of functional groups such as a carboxylic acid or sulfonate group, respectively – are two of the most studied (7). PFASs do not occur naturally in the environment but are used in fire-fighting foams and are abundant in industrial applications and consumer products due to their oil, stain, grease, and water repellency (8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Plasma Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Breastfeeding Duration in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort

Rosen

Brantsæter

Carroll

et al. 2018

Environmental Epidemiology

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Background Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been widely produced, many of them persist in the environment, and have been associated with various health effects. Previous studies have identified inverse associations between perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and breastfeeding duration, but have been limited in investigation of other PFASs. Methods We measured the associations between plasma concentrations of 9 different PFASs and cessation of breastfeeding before 3 and 6 complete months using women from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). The study population includes 1716 primarily nulliparous women from two previous studies of MoBa participants, enrolled from 2003–2007. The association was measured using Cox proportional hazards model. Mixtures analyses were performed using Elastic net regularization to identify interactive effects and control for co-pollutant confounding. Results Concentrations of PFASs in this population were lower than concentrations in the previous studies on this topic. We found associations between increasing concentrations of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecaconic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) and decreased breastfeeding cessation (increased duration). The strongest associations were seen between PFDA and PFUnDA and cessation before 3 months: (both hazard ratios = 0.73, 95% confidence intervals: 0.62, 0.86). In our population, the other PFASs appeared to be unassociated with breastfeeding cessation. The mixtures analyses identified meaningful interactions between PFUnDA:PFDA, perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHXS):PFOA and PFOA:PFOS. Conclusions The identification of associations between previously unexamined PFASs concentrations and increased breastfeeding duration is novel and may be explained by differences in transplacental transfer rates.

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“…This restricted production and use on PFOS and initiated global research on a broader list of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Finding ways to manage PFAS in the environment is a clear focus for many stakeholders and something that has gained intensity because of a combination of forces: Regulatory developments such as the long‐term health advisory in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA ), regulations in Australia and Europe, and the review of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) for inclusion in the Convention. Rapidly evolving toxicology and epidemiological research (Frisbee et al ; Steenland et al ; Halldorsson et al ; Danish Ministry of the Environment ; Mastrantonio et al 2017; Post et al ; He et al ). Public awareness due to detection in groundwater resources used for drinking water (Hu et al ). The fact that there are more than 3000 compounds including the perfluoroalkyl group in the class of chemical termed PFAS (Wang et al ). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%