title: New approach for assessing human perfluoroalkyl exposure via hair.
abstract: In the recent years hair has been increasingly used as alternative matrix in human biomonitoring (HBM) of environmental pollutants. Sampling advantages and time integration of exposure assessment seems the most attractive features of hair matrix. In the current study, a novel miniaturized method was developed and validated for measuring 15 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluoro n-butanoic acid (PFBA), perfluoro n-pentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluoro n-hexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoro n-heptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluor n-octanoic acid (PFOA), perfluoro n-nonanoic acid (PFNA), perfluoro tetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluoro pentane sulfonic acid (PFPeS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononane sulfonic acid (PFNS), perfluorodecane sulfonic acid (PFDS) and perfluorododecane sulfonic acid (PFDoS) in human hair by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). After extraction using ethyl acetate, dispersive ENVI-Carb was used for clean-up. Good intra- and inter-day precision for low (LQ 5 ng/g hair) and high spike (HQ 15n g/g) levels were achieved (in general RSD <10%). The accuracy was assessed using recoveries (%), which ranged between 68-118% (LQ) and 70-121% (HQ). The instrumental limit of detection (LODi) and limit of quantification (LOQi) were between 1-4 pg/g hair and 3-13 pg/g hair, respectively. The method limit of quantification (LOQm) ranged between 6 and 301 pg/g hair. The PFAS levels were measured in 30 human hair samples indicating that the levels are low (14-1534 pg/g hair). Some PFAS were not present in any hair sample (e.g. PFHpA, PFTeDA, PFNA, PFPeS, PFHpS, PFOS and PFNS), while other PFAS were frequently detected (PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFOA, PFBS, PFHxS, PFOS, PFDS and PFDoS) in human hair. Although levels in general were low, there is evidence of higher human exposure to some analytes, such as PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFOA, PFBS, PFHxS, and PFDoS. The current study shows that hair is a suitable alternative non-invasive matrix for exposure assessment of PFAS.
authors.affiliation: Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. Electronic address: andreia.alves@vito.be.
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Griet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.affiliation: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vanermen
authors.affiliation: Toxicological Centre, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Covaci
authors.affiliation: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO NV), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Voorspoels
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005466:Fluorocarbons
keywords: Hair; Human biomoritoring; LC-ESI–MS/MS; Perfluoroalkyl substances