The relationships between sixteen perfluorinated compound concentrations in blood serum and food, and other parameters, in the general population of South Korea with proportionate stratified sampling method

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 470-471; pp. 1390 - 1400
• Main Authors: Kim, Hee-Young, Kim, Seung-Kyu, Kang, Dong-Mug, Hwang, Yong-Sik, Oh, Jeong-Eun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.02.2014
• Subjects: Adult; Busan; Diet - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Environmental Pollution - statistics & numerical data; Female; Fluorocarbons - analysis; Fluorocarbons - blood; Food Analysis; Food Contamination - analysis; Food Contamination - statistics & numerical data; Food intake; General population; Humans; Male; PFOA; PFOS; Republic of Korea; Serum; Republic of Korea; General population; Serum; Busan; Food intake; PFOA; PFOS
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.06.039

Serum samples were collected from volunteers of various ages and both genders using a proportionate stratified sampling method, to assess the exposure of the general population in Busan, South Korea to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). 16 PFCs were investigated in serum samples from 306 adults (124 males and 182 females) and one day composite diet samples (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) from 20 of the serum donors, to investigate the relationship between food and serum PFC concentrations. Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid were the dominant PFCs in the serum samples, with mean concentrations of 8.4 and 13ng/mL, respectively. Perfluorotridecanoic acid was the dominant PFC in the composite food samples, ranging from <DL to 1.48ng/g. PFC concentrations in the serum samples increased with the age of the volunteer, and were higher in males than in females, similar to the results of other studies. We confirmed from the relationships between questionnaire results and the PFC concentrations in the serum samples, that food is one of the important contribution factors of human exposure to PFCs. However, there were no correlations between the PFC concentrations in the one day composite diet samples and the serum samples, because a one day composite diet sample is not necessarily representative of a person's long-term diet and because of the small number of samples taken. •The serum samples were collected using proportionate stratified sampling method.•PFC levels in serum increased with age and were higher in males than in females.•There was no correlation between 16 PFC levels in serum and one day composite diet.