Issue 10, 2020

Emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk from Sweden and China

Abstract

Twenty per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were determined in human milk from residents of three Chinese cities (Shanghai, Jiaxing, and Shaoxing; [n = 10 individuals per city]), sampled between 2010 and 2016. These data were compared to a combination of new and previously reported PFAS concentrations in human milk from Stockholm, Sweden, collected in 2016 (n = 10 individuals). Across the three Chinese cities, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA; sum isomers), 9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanone-1-sulfonic acid (9Cl-PF3ONS; also known as 6:2 Cl-PFESA or by its trade name “F53-B”), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS; sum isomers) occurred at the highest concentrations among all PFAS (up to 411, 976, and 321 pg mL−1, respectively), while in Stockholm, PFOA and PFOS were dominant (up to 89 and 72 pg mL−1, respectively). 3H-Perfluoro-3-[(3-methoxy-propoxy)propanoic acid] (ADONA) was intermittently detected but at concentrations below the method quantification limit (i.e. <10 pg mL−1) in Chinese samples, and was non-detectable in Swedish milk. The extremely high concentrations of F53-B in Chinese milk suggest that human exposure assessments focused only on legacy substances may severely underestimate overall PFAS exposure in breastfeeding infants.

Graphical abstract: Emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk from Sweden and China

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
13 Feb 2020
Accepted
03 Sep 2020
First published
07 Sep 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2020,22, 2023-2030

Emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in human milk from Sweden and China

R. Awad, Y. Zhou, E. Nyberg, S. Namazkar, W. Yongning, Q. Xiao, Y. Sun, Z. Zhu, Å. Bergman and J. P. Benskin, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2020, 22, 2023 DOI: 10.1039/D0EM00077A

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