Comment on “Determinants of PFOA Serum Half-Life after End of Exposure: A Longitudinal Study on Highly Exposed Subjects in the Veneto Region”

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives Vol. 132; no. 6; pp. 68001 - 1
• Main Authors: Olivieri, Armando, Saugo, Mario, Ioverno, Enrico, Bertola, Francesco, Pasinato, Angela, Ducatman, Alan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 01.06.2024; Environmental Health Perspectives
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Adolescents; Animal products; Biomonitoring; Caprylates - blood; Drinking water; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Exposure; Fluorocarbons - blood; Food; Food consumption; Food contamination & poisoning; Gardens & gardening; Half-Life; Health surveillance; Humans; Italy; Letter to the Editor; Livestock; Longitudinal Studies; Perfluoroalkyl & polyfluoroalkyl substances; Perfluorochemicals; Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; Perfluorooctanoic acid; Serum levels; Water consumption; Water pollution; Water purification; Water wells; Young adults; Italy; Ohio Valley
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/EHP15099

[...]investigation seems appropriate, given that a previous study showed that 50.9% of residents in the affected area consumed vege-tables from their own garden, 20.9% consumed their own animal products (mostly eggs and poultry), and 11.6% consumed water from private wells.4 There is already evidence that food and water consumption is an important source of PFAS exposure in this region: Biomonitoring studies carried out by Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) about 2 years before the start of the first round of Health Surveillance Plan screening also showed higher serum concentrations of PFOA among 257 resi-dents who raised livestock for self-consumption and among 122 farmers and breeders who consumed beef from their own farmsteads.5,6 In an unpublished scenario analysis conducted by the ISS in 2019, the estimated adult daily intake of PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was about 0:6 ng=kg=day and 1:7 ng=kg=day, respectively, among residents in Red Area A, based on drinking water doubly filtered with activated carbon and eating local food over anextended period.7 Elevated exposure to PFOA among those consuming vege-tables from their own garden was described in the Mid-Ohio Valley.8 Thus, ongoing exposure to PFOA and PFOS from sources other than tap water among residents in Red Area A cannot be ruled out. Serum levels of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in adolescents and young adults exposed to contaminated drinking water in the Veneto region, Italy: a cross-sectional study based on a health surveillance program.