title: Health risks of dietary exposure to perfluorinated compounds.
abstract: Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) form a diverse group of chemicals with surface-active properties manufactured for over 50 years. In recent years, a number of studies have reported the ubiquitous distribution of PFCs in human tissues and wildlife. Although the relative importance of the routes of human exposure to these compounds is not well established yet, it has been suggested that food intake and packaging, water, house dust, and airborne are all potentially significant sources. However, dietary intake is probably the main route of exposure to these compounds, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the most extensively investigated PFCs. This paper reviews the state of the science regarding the concentrations of PFCs in foodstuffs, human dietary exposure to these compounds and their health risks. The influence of processing, cooking and packaging on the PFCs levels in food is also discussed. Because of the rather limited information about human dietary exposure, studies to determine exposure to PFCs through the diet for the general population of a number of countries are clearly necessary. The correlation of PFCs body burdens and dietary intake of PFCs should be also established.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, IISPV, Universitat "Rovira i Virgili", Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address: joseluis.domingo@urv.cat.
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Domingo
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D002170:Canada; D002210:Caprylates / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005511:Food Handling; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D004391:Dust; D005466:Fluorocarbons; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid