TY - JOUR
T1 - Extractable Organofluorine Analysis in Pooled Human Serum and Placental Tissue Samples from an Austrian Subpopulation-A Mass Balance Analysis Approach
AU - Kaiser, Andreas-Marius
AU - Forsthuber, Martin
AU - Aro, Rudolf
AU - Kärrman, Anna
AU - Gundacker, Claudia
AU - Zeisler, Harald
AU - Foessleitner, Philipp
AU - Salzer, Hans
AU - Hartmann, Christina
AU - Uhl, Maria
AU - Yeung, Leo W Y
N1 - Funding Information:
We wish to thank Mohammed Sadia (ORU), Jean-Noel Uwayezu (URO), Mio Skagerkvist (ORU), Pontus Larsson (ORU), Stefan Weiss (EAA), Philipp Steinbichl (EAA), Martina Göss (EAA), Sigrid Scharf (EAA), Sebastian Granitzer (MUW), and Raimund Widhalm (MUW) for their highly valuable support. This study was inspired by the Human Biomonitoring for Europe program HBM4EU. Supported by the MUW, the EAA as Chemical group leader for PFAS within HBM4EU contributes with this research to answer the policy questions for PFAS.
Funding Information:
Parts of the study were funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy Mobility, Innovation, and Technology and by the Environment Agency Austria. The authors from ORU acknowledge support from the Swedish Research Council FORMAS (project number: 2016-01158) and the Knowledge Foundation (KKS) for funding the project within the Enforce Research Profile (20160019), Sweden.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
PY - 2021/7/6
Y1 - 2021/7/6
N2 - Embryos and fetuses are of major concern due to their high vulnerability. Previous studies demonstrated that human exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may be underestimated because only a limited number of known PFAS can be measured. This investigation studied the total PFAS exposure by measuring the extractable organofluorine (EOF) in pooled maternal serum, placental tissue, and cord serum samples (total number of pooled samples: n = 45). The EOF was analyzed using combustion ion chromatography, and the concentrations of known PFAS were determined using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with a tandem mass spectrometer. Using a mass balance analysis approach, the amount of unknown PFAS was estimated between the levels of known PFAS and EOF. The EOF levels ranged from 2.85 to 7.17 ng F/mL (21 PFAS were quantified) in the maternal serum, from 1.02 to 1.85 ng F/g (23 PFAS were quantified) in the placental tissue, and from 1.2 to 2.10 ng F/mL (18 PFAS were quantified) in the cord serum. An average of 24, 51, and 9% of EOF is unidentified in the maternal serum, placental tissue, and cord serum, respectively. The results show that the levels of unidentified EOF are higher in the placental tissue, suggesting accumulation or potential transformation of precursors in the placenta.
AB - Embryos and fetuses are of major concern due to their high vulnerability. Previous studies demonstrated that human exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may be underestimated because only a limited number of known PFAS can be measured. This investigation studied the total PFAS exposure by measuring the extractable organofluorine (EOF) in pooled maternal serum, placental tissue, and cord serum samples (total number of pooled samples: n = 45). The EOF was analyzed using combustion ion chromatography, and the concentrations of known PFAS were determined using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with a tandem mass spectrometer. Using a mass balance analysis approach, the amount of unknown PFAS was estimated between the levels of known PFAS and EOF. The EOF levels ranged from 2.85 to 7.17 ng F/mL (21 PFAS were quantified) in the maternal serum, from 1.02 to 1.85 ng F/g (23 PFAS were quantified) in the placental tissue, and from 1.2 to 2.10 ng F/mL (18 PFAS were quantified) in the cord serum. An average of 24, 51, and 9% of EOF is unidentified in the maternal serum, placental tissue, and cord serum, respectively. The results show that the levels of unidentified EOF are higher in the placental tissue, suggesting accumulation or potential transformation of precursors in the placenta.
KW - Alkanesulfonic Acids
KW - Austria
KW - Chromatography, Liquid
KW - Female
KW - Fluorocarbons/analysis
KW - Humans
KW - Placenta/chemistry
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Serum
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110157900&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.1c00883
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.1c00883
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34133125
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 55
SP - 9033
EP - 9042
JO - Environmental Science & Technology
JF - Environmental Science & Technology
IS - 13
ER -