title: Pathways and factors for food safety and food security at PFOS contaminated sites within a problem based learning approach.
abstract: Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and related substances have been listed in Annex B of the Stockholm Convention. The implementation requires inventories of use, stockpiles, and environmental contamination including contaminated sites and measures for (risk) reduction and phase out. In most countries monitoring capacity is not available and therefore other approaches for assessment of contaminated sites are needed. Available informations about PFOS contamination in hot spot areas and its bio-accumulation in the food webs have been merged to build up a worst-case scenario We model PFOS transfer from 1 to 100ngL(-1) range in water to extensive and free-range food producing animals, also via the spread of contaminated sludges on agriculture soils. The modeling indicates that forages represented 78% of the exposure in ruminants, while soil accounted for >80% in outdoor poultry/eggs and pigs. From the carry-over rates derived from literature, in pork liver, egg, and feral fish computed concentration falls at 101, 28 and 2.7ngg(-1), respectively, under the 1ngL(-1) PFOS scenario. Assuming a major consumption of food produced from a contaminated area, advisories on egg and fish, supported by good agriculture/farming practices could abate 75% of the human food intake. Such advisories would allow people to become resilient in a PFOS contaminated area through an empowerment of the food choices, bringing the alimentary exposure toward the current Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of 150ngkg(-1)bodyweightd(-1) proposed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
authors.affiliation: Istituto Superiore di sanità, Toxicological Chemistry Unit, Viale Regina Elena, 299 I-00161 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: gianfranco.brambilla@iss.it.
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brambilla
authors.affiliation: Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicology Research (SPHERE), Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: D'Hollander
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Environmental Consulting, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Fardin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oliaei
authors.affiliation: Hessian State Laboratory, Glarusstrasse 6, D-65203 Wiesbaden, Germany.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.affiliation: POPs Environmental Consulting, Lindenfirststrasse 23, D-73527 Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D004531:Eggs / Q000506:poisoning; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D059022:Food Safety; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D011200:Poultry / Q000378:metabolism; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*; D013552:Swine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D005466:Fluorocarbons; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
keywords: Empowerment; Food safety; Food security; Hot spot; Intake; PFOS