Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

PFOS and PFOA in paired urine and blood from general adults and pregnant women: assessment of urinary elimination

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in human blood are well documented, information on elimination of these chemicals is limited. In this study, PFOS and PFOA were analyzed in 81 whole blood–urine paired samples from general adults and pregnant women in Tianjin, China. PFOS and PFOA were detected in 48 and 76 % of adult urine (AU) samples, with geometric mean (GM) concentrations of 0.011 and 0.008 ng/mL, respectively; whereas relatively low PFOS and PFOA concentrations were found in maternal urine (MU) samples, with GM concentrations of 0.006 and 0.003 ng/mL, respectively. For PFOA, the coefficients of Pearson’s correlation between whole blood concentrations and creatinine-adjusted and creatinine-unadjusted urinary concentrations were 0.348 (p = 0.013) and 0.417 (p = 0.002), respectively. The GM urinary elimination rates of PFOS (PFOSUER) and PFOA (PFOAUER) were 16 and 25 %, respectively, for adults. These results indicate that urine is an important pathway of excretion of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). The partitioning ratios of PFAS concentration between urine and whole blood (PFASU/B) in pregnant women (PFOSU/B, 0.0004; PFOAU/B, 0.0011) were significantly lower (p = 0.025 for PFOSU/B, p = 0.017 for PFOAU/B) than the ratios found in non-pregnant women (PFOSU/B, 0.0013; PFOAU/B, 0.0028). Furthermore, our results suggest a clear gender difference in the urinary elimination of PFOA, with male adults (31 %) having significantly higher PFOAUER than that of female adults (19 %). PFOSUER was significantly inversely correlated with age (r = −0.334, p = 0.015); these findings suggest that urinary elimination of PFOS is faster in young adults than in the elderly.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Apelberg BJ, Witter FR, Herbstman JB, Calafat AM, Halden RU, Needham LL, Goldman LR (2007) Cord serum concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in relation to weight and size at birth. Environ Health Perspect 115:1670–1676

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bartell SM, Calafat AM, Lyu C, Kato K, Ryan PB, Steenland K (2010) Rate of decline in serum PFOA concentrations after granular activated carbon filtration at two public water systems in Ohio and West Virginia. Environ Health Perspect 118:222–228

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beesoon S, Webster GM, Shoeib M, Harner T, Benskin JP, Martin JW (2011) Isomer profiles of perfluorochemicals in matched maternal, cord, and house dust samples: manufacturing sources and transplacental transfer. Environ Health Perspect 119:1659–1664

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cui L, Liao CY, Zhou QF, Xia TM, Yun ZJ, Jiang GB (2010) Excretion of PFOA and PFOS in male rats during a subchronic exposure. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 58:205–213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fei C, McLaughlin JK, Tarone RE, Olsen J (2007) Perfluorinated chemicals and fetal growth: a study within the Danish National Birth Cohort. Environ Health Perspect 115:1677–1682

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fromme H, Schlummer M, Moller A, Gruber L, Wolz G, Ungewiss J, Böhmer S, Dekant W, Mayer R, Liebl B, Twardella D (2007) Exposure of an adult population to perfluorinated substances using duplicate diet portions and biomonitoring data. Environ Sci Technol 41:7928–7933

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Han X, Snow TA, Kemper RA, Jepson GW (2003) Binding of perfluorooctanoic acid to rat and human plasma proteins. Chem Res Toxicol 16:775–781

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen KJ, Clemen LA, Ellefson ME, Johnson HO (2001) Compound-specific, quantitative characterization of organic fluorochemicals in biological matrices. Environ Sci Technol 35:766–770

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harada K, Inoue K, Morikawa A, Yoshinaga T, Saito N, Koizumi A (2005) Renal clearance of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in humans and their species-specific excretion. Environ Res 99:253–261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Houde M, Martin JW, Letcher RJ, Solomon KR, Muir DCG (2006) Biological monitoring of polyfluoroalkyl substances: a review. Environ Sci Technol 40:3463–3473

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Houde M, De Silva AO, Muir DCG, Letcher RJ (2011) Monitoring of perfluorinated compounds in aquatic biota: an updated review. Environ Sci Technol 45:7962–7973

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ICRP (International Commission on Radiological Protection) (2002) Basic anatomical and physiological data for use in radiological protection: reference values. Pergamon Press, Oxford, p 161, ICRP publication 89

    Google Scholar 

  • Javins B, Hobbs G, Ducatman AM, Pilkerton C, Tacker D, Knox SS (2013) Circulating maternal perfluoroalkyl substances during pregnancy in the C8 health study. Environ Sci Technol 47:1606–1613

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones PD, Hu W, De Coen W, Newsted JL, Giesy JP (2003) Binding of perfluorinated fatty acids to serum proteins. Environ Toxicol Chem 22:2639–2649

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy GL, Butenhoff JL, Olsen GW, O’Connor JC, Seacat AM, Perkins RG, Biegel LB, Murphy SR, Farrar DG (2004) The toxicology of perfluorooctanoate. Crit Rev Toxicol 34:351–384

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim S, Choi K, Ji K, Seo J, Kho Y, Park J, Park S, Hwang I, Jeon J, Yang H, Giesy JP (2011) Trans-placental transfer of thirteen perfluorinated compounds and relations with fetal thyroid hormones. Environ Sci Technol 45:7465–7472

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kudo N, Suzuki E, Katakura M, Ohmori K, Noshiro R, Kawashima Y (2001) Comparison of the elimination between perfluorinated fatty acids with different carbon chain length in rats. Chem Biol Interact 134:203–216

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lau C, Anitole K, Hodes C, Lai D, Pfahles-Hutchens A, Seed J (2007) Perfluoroalkyl acids: a review of monitoring and toxicological findings. Toxicol Sci 99:366–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee JJ, Schultz IR (2010) Sex differences in the uptake and disposition of perfluorooctanoic acid in fathead minnows after oral dosing. Environ Sci Technol 44:491–496

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li J, Guo F, Wang Y, Zhang J, Zhong Y, Zhao Y, Wu Y (2013) Can nail, hair and urine be used for biomonitoring of human exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid? Environ Int 53:47–52

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liao C, Kannan K (2012) Determination of free and conjugated forms of bisphenol A in human urine and serum by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Environ Sci Technol 46:5003–5009

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lorber M, Egeghy PP (2011) Simple intake and pharmacokinetic modeling to characterize exposure of Americans to perfluoroctanoic acid, PFOA. Environ Sci Technol 45:8006–8014

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ohmori K, Kudo N, Katayama K, Kawashima Y (2003) Comparison of the toxicokinetics between perfluorocarboxylic acids with different carbon chain length. Toxicology 184:135–140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen GW, Burris JM, Ehresman DJ, Froehlich JW, Seacat AM, Butenhoff JL, Zobel LR (2007) Half-life of serum elimination of perfluorooctanesulfonate, perfluorohexanesulfonate, and perfluorooctanoate in retired fluorochemical production workers. Environ Health Perspect 115:1298–1305

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perez F, Llorca M, Farre M, Barcelo D (2012) Automated analysis of perfluorinated compounds in human hair and urine samples by turbulent flow chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 402:2369–2378

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Post GB, Cohn PD, Cooper KR (2012) Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an emerging drinking water contaminant: a critical review of recent literature. Environ Res 116:93–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prevedouros K, Cousins IT, Buck RC, Korzeniowski SH (2005) Sources, fate and transport of perfluorocarboxylates. Environ Sci Technol 40:32–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seacat AM, Thomford PJ, Hansen KJ, Olsen GW, Case MT, Butenhoff JL (2002) Subchronic toxicity studies on perfluorooctanesulfonate potassium salt in cynomolgus monkeys. Toxicol Sci 68:249–264

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • So MK, Yamashita N, Taniyasu S, Jiang Q, Giesy JP, Chen K, Lam PK (2006) Health risks in infants associated with exposure to perfluorinated compounds in human breast milk from Zhoushan, China. Environ Sci Technol 40:2924–2929

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spliethoff HM, Tao L, Shaver SM, Aldous KM, Pass KA, Kannan K, Eadon GA (2008) Use of newborn screening program blood spots for exposure assessment: declining levels of perluorinated compounds in New York State infants. Environ Sci Technol 42:5361–5367

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stillerman KP, Mattison DR, Giudice LC, Woodruff TJ (2008) Environmental exposures and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a review of the science. Reprod Sci 15:631–650

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao L, Kannan K, Wong CM, Arcaro KF, Butenhoff JL (2008) Perfluorinated compounds in human milk from Massachusetts, U.S.A. Environ Sci Technol 42:3096–3101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tatum-Gibbs K, Wambaugh JF, Das KP, Zehr RD, Strynar MJ, Lindstrom AB, Delinsky A, Lau C (2011) Comparative pharmacokinetics of perfluorononanoic acid in rat and mouse. Toxicology 281:48–55

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thayer K (2002) Perfluorinated chemicals: justification for inclusion of this chemical class in the national report on human exposure to environmental chemicals. Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson J, Lorber M, Toms LM, Kato K, Calafat AM, Mueller JF (2010) Use of simple pharmacokinetic modeling to characterize exposure of Australians to perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid. Environ Int 36:390–397

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff TJ, Zota AR, Schwartz JM (2011) Environmental chemicals in pregnant women in the United States: NHANES 2003–2004. Environ Health Perspect 119:878–885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang XG, Li YP, Ma GS, Hu XQ, Wang JZ, Cui ZH, Wang ZH, Yu WT, Yang ZX, Zhai FY (2005) Study on weight and height of the Chinese people and the differences between 1992 and 2002. Chin J Epidemiol 26:489–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Wu Q, Sun HW, Zhang XZ, Yun SH, Kannan K (2010) Perfluorinated compounds in whole blood samples from infants, children, and adults in China. Environ Sci Technol 44:4341–4347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Sun HW, Lin Y, Qin XL, Zhang YF, Geng X, Kannan K (2013a) Distribution of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in matched samples from pregnant women and carbon chain length related maternal transfer. Environ Sci Technol 47:7974–7981

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YF, Beesoon S, Zhu LY, Martin JW (2013b) Biomonitoring of perfluoroalkyl acids in human urine and estimates of biological half-life. Environ Sci Technol 47:10619–10627

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Z, Shi Y, Vestergren R, Wang T, Liang Y, Cai Y (2014) Highly elevated serum concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances in fishery employees from tangxun lake, china. Environ Sci Technol 48:3864–3874

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21207071 and no. 41225014) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities are acknowledged for their partial research supports. The Shanghai Tongji Gao Tingyao Environmental Science and Technology Development Foundation of China is acknowledged for scholarship support. A part of this study (analysis was performed at Wadsworth Center) was funded by a grant (1U38EH000464-01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA) to Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. We gratefully acknowledge the donors who contributed the blood samples for this study.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Street, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Tao Zhang, Hongwen Sun, Xiaolei Qin & Zhiwei Gan

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Tao Zhang

  3. Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY, 12201, USA

    Kurunthachalam Kannan

Authors
  1. Tao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hongwen Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaolei Qin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhiwei Gan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kurunthachalam Kannan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongwen Sun.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOC 88 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, T., Sun, H., Qin, X. et al. PFOS and PFOA in paired urine and blood from general adults and pregnant women: assessment of urinary elimination. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 5572–5579 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3725-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3725-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation