title: Perfluoroalkyl acids and the isomers of perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in the sera of 50 new couples in Tianjin, China.
abstract: A total of 100 serum samples from 50 new couples (none of the females in this study has ever been pregnant) in Tianjin, North China, were analyzed for eleven perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) with isomer-specific method. Among all samples, total perfluorooctanesulfonate (∑PFOS, mean 11.3 ng/mL) was predominant followed by total perfluorooctanoate (∑PFOA, 2.95 ng/mL), perfluorodecanoate (PFDA, 1.17 ng/mL), perfluorononanoate (PFNA, 0.93 ng/mL) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS, 0.67 ng/mL). The mean concentrations of ∑PFOS and PFHxS in males (14.2 and 0.89 ng/mL) were significantly higher (p=0.001) than in females (8.36 and 0.45 ng/mL). No statistical difference between genders was observed for the other PFAAs. This suggests that menstruation is one important elimination pathway for ∑PFOS and PFHxS in females. Linear PFOA was the dominant isomer with mean proportion of 99.7%, suggesting that telomeric PFOA (and its precursors), which contains almost pure linear isomer, might be the dominant exposure source of PFOA in Tianjin. On average, the proportion of linear PFOS (n-PFOS) was 59.2% of ∑PFOS, which was lower than that in technical PFOS products (ca. 70% linear). Except perfluoroisopropyl PFOS, all the other monomethyl branched PFOS isomers were enriched in human serum compared to the commercial products, suggesting the monomethyl branched PFOS precursors were preferentially biotransformed in humans.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China.
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China. Electronic address: zhuly@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lingyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Maternity and Child Care Center, Heping District, Tianjin 300071, PR China.
authors.forename: Jimin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002210:Caprylates / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007536:Isomerism; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D013451:Sulfonic Acids / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002210:Caprylates; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D013451:Sulfonic Acids; C471071:perfluorohexanesulfonic acid; C018959:hexadecafluoro-nonanoic acid; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
keywords: Human serum; Isomers; Perfluoroalkyl acids; Perfluorooctanesulfonate