An Occupational Exposure Assessment of a Perfluorooctanesulfonyl Fluoride Production Site: Biomonitoring

Abstract

This investigation randomly sampled a fluorochemical manufacturing employee population to determine the distribution of serum fluorochemical levels according to employees' jobs and work areas. Previous analyses of medical surveillance data have not shown significant associations between fluorochemical production employees' clinical chemistry and hematology tests and their serum PFOS and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA, C(7)F(15)COO(-)) concentrations, but may have been subject to nonparticipation bias. A random sample of the on-site film plant employee population, where fluorochemicals are not produced, determined their serum concentrations also. Of the 232 employees randomly selected for serum sampling, 186 (80%) employees participated (n=126 chemical plant; n=60 film plant). Sera samples were extracted using an ion-pairing extraction procedure and were quantitatively analyzed for seven fluorochemicals using high-pressure liquid chromatography electrospray tandem mass spectrometry methods. Geometric means (in parts per million) and 95% confidence intervals (in parentheses) of the random sample of 126 chemical plant employees were: PFOS 0.941 (0.787-1.126); PFOA 0.899 (0.722-1.120); perfluorohexanesulfonate 0.180 (0.145-0.223); N-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetate 0.008 (0.006-0.011); N-methyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetate 0.081 (0.067-0.098); perfluorooctanesulfonamide 0.013 (0.009-0.018); and perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetate 0.022 (0.018-0.029). These geometric means were approximately one order of magnitude higher than those observed for the film plant employees.

Comparison of in vitro cytotoxicity, estrogenicity and anti‐estrogenicity of triclosan, perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid

“…Upper high range of PFOS concentrations detected in the serum of production plant workers (Olsen et al, 2003) and upper high range of plasma of bottlenose dolphins (Houde et al, 2005).…”

“…Results were obtained in units of counts per minute (cpm) and were normalized on a plate-by-plate basis, using control wells. Within each plate, raw responses were averaged for each treatment and scaled Low concentration of triclosan observed in human plasma (Allmyr et al, 2006) 2 mg ml À1 Low concentration detected in Charleston Harbor water samples (Fair et al, 2009) 20 mg ml À1 High concentration detected in Charleston Harbor water samples (Fair et al, 2009); low concentration observed in human breast milk and high concentration in human plasma of exposed individuals (Allmyr et al, 2006) High concentration of PFOS detected in plasma of bottlenose dolphins in Charleston, SC (Houde et al, 2005) and high concentrations of PFOS detected in the serum of random blood donors (Olsen et al, 2003) 30 mg ml À1…”

“…For example, PFCs have been detected in a range of concentrations in a number of marine organisms, waterfowl, polar bears, dolphins and human milk and blood (Kannan et al, 2002;Taniyasu et al, 2003;Houde et al, 2005;Calafat et al, 2008;Olsen et al, 2007;Bentaen et al, 2008;Tao et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2008;Yeung et al, 2008, Fair et al, 2009. Mean PFOS and PFOA levels of 0.941 and 0.899 ppm, respectively, were detected in the serum of fluorochemical manufacturer employees (Olsen et al, 2003). PFOS and PFOA were also detected at mean levels of 15.1 and 2.2 ppb, respectively, in serum of individuals from the general population (Olsen et al, 2007).…”

Differential Accumulation and Elimination Behavior of Perfluoroalkyl Acid Isomers in Occupational Workers in a Manufactory in China

“…18−25 Previous studies noted that workers in fluorochemical production plants are a subgroup that have an exceptionally high body burden of PFAAs. 26,27 However, possible sources and routes of exposure to PFAA isomers in occupationally exposed workers are not well-characterized. Our previous study revealed that high levels of PFAAs were found in the ambient environment of a perfluorosulfonate (PFSA) manufacturing facility.…”

Kinetics and Quantitative Structure—Activity Relationship Study on the Degradation Reaction from Perfluorooctanoic Acid to Trifluoroacetic Acid

“…Research shows that levels of PFOA in wildlife range from 0.05 ng/mL in the blood of cod collected from European waters to 8.14 ng/mL in the plasma of loggerhead sea turtles from North America [10,11]. It can be also accumulated in creatures through water, food and atmosphere, causing the decrease in fertility rate, birth weight and other immune system diseases [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Although the environmental protection agency of the United States (US-EPA) and the European environment agency (EEA) have adopted an industrial program in order to reduce the global emissions of PFOA [19,20], the remained PFOA in the environment still has potential risk on humans.…”