Preliminary Associations between the Detection of Perfluoroalkyl Acids (PFAAs) in Drinking Water and Serum Concentrations in a Sample of California Women

Abstract

This study compared detection of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in public drinking water with PFAA serum concentrations for 1566 California women. PFAA occurrence in drinking water from U.S. EPA's third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) database was linked by residential zip code to study participants. Detectable water concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) ranged from 0.020 to 0.053 μg/L and of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) from 0.041 to 0.156 μg/L. Forty percent of detectable concentrations exceeded the 2016 Health Advisory Level of 0.07 μg/L for combined PFOA and PFOS concentrations. Serum concentrations of PFOS and PFOA significantly differed between participants with and without detectable measures of these compounds in water (Wilcoxon P ≤ 0.0007). Median serum concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were 29% and 38% higher, respectively, among those with detectable levels in water compared to those without detectable levels. Validation of this approach and replication of these results in other study populations are warranted. ■ INTRODUCTIONPerfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a subset of the poly-and perfluoroalkylsubstances (PFASs), a class of compounds that have been widely used for over 60 years to impart nonstick, waterproof and stain-resistant coatings to a variety of consumer products, including cookware, food packaging, clothing, carpeting, and textiles. 1−3 PFASs are also active ingredients in aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) used to extinguish hydrocarbon-based fuel fires at airports, oil refineries, military bases, and firefighter training facilities. 4 PFAAs are highly resistant to biodegradation and are among the most persistent of environmental pollutants. 1,3,5 A growing body of scientific evidence for the two most studied members of PFASs, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), suggests potentially toxic effects including tumor induction, hepatoxicity, developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, endocrine disruption, and neurotoxicity. 2,3,6−13 Consequently, PFASs, especially PFOS and PFOA, have become the focus of considerable public health concern.Although U.S. route of exposure among populations whose water has known "significant environmental contamination", 21−27 but it is unclear whether drinking water may serve as an important route of exposure among the general population. The use of AFFF at airports and military bases and the land application of biosolids have both been observed to contaminate surrounding groundwater and surface water with PFASs 28−31 and may contribute to PFAS levels in drinking water sources far from PFASs manufacturers.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), under its third Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) for Public Water Systems began testing public water supplies in 2013 for six PFAAs. 32 These data are collected to provide scientifically valid information on the occurrence of unregulated chemicals that are of potential public health concern and are used by the...

Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances in a Cohort of Women Firefighters and Office Workers in San Francisco

“…35,59 In addition, the widespread use of PFAScontaining products on clothing, furniture fabrics, carpets, and paper food packaging also contributes to levels found in people. 49,60 Drinking water contamination is considered an important source of PFAS exposure in many communities, 49,61,62 and people with contaminated drinking water have elevated PFAS in their blood. 63 However, local San Francisco Bay Area water systems are not likely to be a significant source of PFAS exposure for WFBC study Percentiles and summary statistics calculated using LOD/sqrt(2) for those with less than 100% detection frequency.…”

Key scientific issues in developing drinking water guidelines for perfluoroalkyl acids: Contaminants of emerging concern

“…These empirical observations and toxicokinetic models ( Fig 2 ) consistently demonstrate that serum PFOA levels in adults increase on average by more than 100 times the drinking water concentration [ 8 , 28 ], with greater predicted increases for PFOS and PFNA. Notably, serum PFOA and PFOS were significantly higher among individuals residing in zip codes with UCMR3 detections than in other zip codes, although the study design tended to minimize differences between these two groups [ 29 ].…”

Removing per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances from groundwaters using activated carbon and ion exchange resin packed columns

“…They have been detected ubiquitously in the aquatic environment (Gawor et al, 2014;Rankin, Mabury, Jenkins, & Washington, 2016), biota, and humans (Ahrens & Bundschuh, 2014;Vestergren & Cousins, 2009). Human exposure to PFAS through consuming impacted drinking water is a growing adverse health concern (Emmett et al, 2006;Hurley et al, 2016). As such, many communities across the United States are or will be pursuing treatment techniques to remove PFAS from groundwaters serving as potable water supplies.…”