Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been distributed in environment and human body worldwide. Due to their bioaccumulative and multiple organ toxic, these compounds have raised more and more attention in recent years. The precursors of PFASs can be metabolized to PFASs both in environment and human body, which makes an important contribution to human body burdens. Apart from transformation into PFASs, some of these precursors themselves or their metabolic intermediates also have toxicity effects, such as estrogen-like properties, protein binding, cytotoxicity and so on, and there might be a potential harmful impact on human health. In this paper, the toxicity and biotransformation of PFASs and their precursors were introduced briefly.
Environment ; Environmental Pollution ; Fluorocarbons ; toxicity ; Health ; Humans ; Risk

OBJECTIVETo explore the level of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) precursors in Chinese human milk samples.

METHODSThe human milk samples were collected during the performance of Stockholm convention on survey of human milk in China in 2007. Based on the geographical location and dietary habits, China was divided into the south area and north area which 6 provinces were chosen from each area and there were 12 provinces in all. In each province, one urban site and two rural sites were selected to collect 80-110 samples. Mothers were randomly selected in each site to collect their breast milk. There were 1 237 individual human milk samples in all. For each province, the individual samples from the urban areas and the rural areas were pooled separately resulting in 24 pooled human milk samples. 11 PFAS precursors were measured in pooled samples by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadruple mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The dietary exposure assessment of newborns was made.

RESULTSThree PFAS precursors were found above the detection limits, namely, 6:2 FTS, FHUEA, and 6:2 diPAP. Their concentration ranges were < Limit of determination (LOD) -47.46 pg/ml, < LOD -70.68 pg/ml and < LOD -35.08 pg/ml, respectively. The highest total PFAS precursor concentration 77.70 pg/ml was found in urban area samples from Shannxi Province. Rural area samples from Hubei had the lowest total PFAS precursor concentration, which was below the LOD. There were significant differences between rural and urban areas in many provinces, such as Shannxi (rural: 1.51 pg/ml; urban: 77.70 pg/ml), Shanghai (rural: 1.13 pg/ml; urban: 71.88 pg/ml), Jiangxi (rural: 65.39 pg/ml; urban: 0.55 pg/ml) and so on. The ranges estimated daily intake of 6:2 FTS, FHUEA and 6:2 diPAP of the samples from 12 provinces were 0.05-4.51, 1.13-6.72 and 1.15-3.34 ng · kg⁻¹ · d⁻¹.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggested the human exposure of PFAS precursors in China and the potential health impact of postnatal exposure through breastfeeding to infants. The level of PFAS precursors showed differences in regions, rural and urban places.

Breast Feeding ; China ; Female ; Fluorocarbons ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Limit of Detection ; Milk, Human ; Rural Population ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; Urban Population

OBJECTIVETo explore the level of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and their precursors in 18 market milk samples of China.

METHODThe 18 milk samples were selected in 8 provinces of China, including Ningxia, Neimeng, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Chongqing, and Guangdong. 8 PFASs and 11 PFAS precursors were measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadruple mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The dietary exposure assessment was made.

RESULTSThree PFASs were detected in milk samples which were PFOA, PFUdA, and PFOS. The numbers of detected samples were 5, 12, and 14, respectively. Their concentration ranges were < Limit of determination (LOD)-431.94 pg/ml, < LOD -15.95 pg/ml and < LOD -126.98 pg/ml, respectively. Three PFAS precursors were also found above the detection limits, namely, 4:2 FTS, 6:2 FTS, and 6:2 diPAP. Only one sample was detected 4:2 FTS at the concentration of 3.75 pg/ml. The detected samples of 6:2 FTS and 6:2 diPAP were 12 and 3. Their concentration ranges were < LOD -2.49 pg/ml and < LOD -24.56 pg/ml, respectively. The ranges estimated daily intake of PFOA and PFOS of the detected samples were 2.49 × 10⁻³-405.89 × 10⁻³ ng · kg⁻¹ · d⁻¹ and 36.10 × 10⁻³-119.32 × 10⁻³ ng · kg⁻¹ · d⁻¹.

CONCLUSIONOur results suggested that there were different contamination levels of PFASs and their precursors in the 18 market milk produced from different regions in china. The estimated daily intake of PFASs from the milk in our study were far below the tolerable daily intake set by European Union (PFOS: 150 ng · kg⁻¹ · d⁻¹, PFOA: 1 500 ng · kg⁻¹ · d⁻¹).

Animals ; China ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Dairy Products ; Fluorocarbons ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Mass Spectrometry ; Milk ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry