title: Temporal trends of PFSAs, PFCAs and selected precursors in Australian serum from 2002 to 2013.
abstract: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a family of compounds that includes numerous compound classes. To date, only a subset of these PFASs have been studied thoroughly in the general population. In this study, pooled serum samples from Australia collected in 2002-2013 were analyzed for PFASs according to gender and age (age categories of 0-4 years, 5-15 years, 16-30 years, 31-45 years, 46-60 years, and >60 years), in total 54 pooled samples and 4920 individuals. Compound classes included were perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs), and two groups of PFCA precursor compounds; polyfluoroalkyl phosphate diesters (diPAPs), and fluorotelomer sulfonic acids (FTSAs). Several PFASs that were not reported in previous studies of Australian serum samples were found in this sample set including; diPAPs, FTSAs, perfluoropentane sulfonic acid (PFPeS), perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS), perfluoroheptane carboxylic acid (PFHpA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA), and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA). Various temporal trends were observed with a significant reduction (p < 0.05) between 2002 and 2013 for 8:2 FTSA, perflurohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), PFHpS, PFOS, and perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA). Levels of longer-chained PFDA and PFUnDA started to decrease more recently, between 2006 and 2013, while PFDoDA increased during the same time period. Higher levels in younger age groups (0-4 and 5-15 years) compared to adults (>15 years) were found for 8:2 FTSA and PFHpA, while levels of PFHpS, PFOS, PFUnDA, PFDoDA and PFTrDA were higher in adult age groups compared to younger age groups. Gender-specific patterns were seen for PFOA, PFHxS, PFHpS and PFOS, where levels were lower in women. Changes in manufacturing processes were reflected in the temporal time trends, and differences in bioaccumulation potential between homologues could be associated with age trends. Our results emphasize the importance of including emerging classes of PFASs in biomonitoring studies.
authors.affiliation: Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden. Electronic address: ulrika.eriksson@oru.se.
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.affiliation: Entox, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia. Electronic address: j.mueller@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jochen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia. Electronic address: leisamaree.toms@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Leisa-Maree L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Toms
authors.affiliation: Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology, Taringa, Australia. Electronic address: peter_hobson@snp.com.au.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hobson
authors.affiliation: Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden. Electronic address: anna.karrman@oru.se.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kärrman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005466:Fluorocarbons
keywords: FTSAs; PFAS; Serum; Temporal trend; diPAPs