Perfluorinated Compounds in Whole Blood Samples from Infants, Children, and Adults in China

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 44; no. 11; pp. 4341 - 4347
• Main Authors: Zhang, Tao, Wu, Qian, Sun, Hong Wen, Zhang, Xian Zhong, Yun, Se Hun, Kannan, Kurunthachalam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.06.2010
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Age groups; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Blood tests; Child; Children & youth; China; Ecotoxicology and Human Environmental Health; Environment. Living conditions; Environmental science; Exact sciences and technology; Fluorocarbons - blood; Health risk assessment; Human exposure; Humans; Infant; Limit of Detection; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Perfluorocarbons; Pollution; Principal components analysis; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Quality Control; Toxicity; Young Adult; Asia; China; Human; Whole blood; Health and environment; Organic perhalocompound; Adult; Infant; Fluorine Organic compounds; Child; Epidemiology; Age; Organic compounds
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es1002132

Two hundred and forty five human blood (whole blood) samples from Chinese donors aged from 0 to 90 yrs were analyzed for 10 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were the most abundant PFCs found in blood. The median concentration of PFOS was lower in nonadults (i.e., infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents) (2.52−5.55 ng/mL) than in adults (8.07 ng/mL). However, median concentration of PFOA in nonadults (1.23−2.42 ng/mL) was higher than that found in adults (1.01 ng/mL). A significant increase in PFOS (r = 0.468, p < 0.01) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) (r = 0.357, p < 0.01) concentrations with age was found, while PFOA concentrations (r = −0.344, p < 0.01) were negatively correlated with age. No significant gender-related differences in PFC concentrations were found across all ages. The composition profiles of PFCs, as identified by principal component analysis, varied for each age group; this suggested differences in sources and pathways of exposure to PFCs for different age groups. Based on the blood PFC concentration, we estimated the daily intake of PFOS by adults using a one-compartment toxicokinetic model. The modeled daily intake of PFOS agreed well with the calculated daily intake via diet and indoor dust (0.74 vs 1.19 ng/kg b.w. for males, 1.20 vs 1.15 ng/kg b.w. for females) suggesting that dietary intake and dust ingestion are the major exposure routes to PFOS exposure in China. This is the first comprehensive study on PFCs in human blood from infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents in China. The data are valuable for understanding the sources and pathways of human exposure to PFCs for different age groups.