Occurrence, temporal trends, and half-lives of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in occupational workers in China

AbstractPaired serum and urine samples were collected from workers in a fluorochemical plant from 2008 to 2012 (n = 302) to investigate the level, temporal trends, and half-lives of PFAAs in workers of a fluorochemical plant. High levels of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) were detected in serum with median concentrations of 764, 427, and 1725 ng mL−1, respectively. The half-lives of PFAAs in workers were estimated by daily clearance rates and annual decline rates of PFAAs in serum by a first-order model. The geometric mean and median value for PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOS were 14.7 and 11.7, 4.1 and 4.0, 32.6 and 21.6 years, respectively, by the daily clearance rates, and they were 3.6, 1.7, and 1.9 years estimated by annual decline rates. The half-lives estimated by the limited clearance route information could be considered as the upper limits for PFAAs, however, the huge difference between two estimated approaches indicated that there were other important elimination pathways of PFAAs other than renal clearance in human. The half-lives estimated by annual decline rates in the present study were the shortest values ever reported, and the intrinsic half-lives might even shorter due to the high levels of ongoing exposure to PFAAs.

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Details

Published: Dec 01, 2016
Vol/Issue: 6(1)
License: View

Authors

Laboratory of Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Y

Yong Liang

Celera Genomics, 45 West Gude Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.

G

Guangbo Qu

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences; Chinese Academy of Sciences; School of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental and Health Effects of Persistent Toxic Substances, School of Environment and Health; Jianghan University

Cite This Article

Jianjie Fu, Yan Gao, Lin Cui, et al. (2016). Occurrence, temporal trends, and half-lives of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in occupational workers in China. Scientific Reports, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38039

Occurrence, temporal trends, and half-lives of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in occupational workers in China

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