Yiyi Xu1, Christel Nielsen2, Ying Li3, Sofia Hammarstrand4, Eva M Andersson5, Huiqi Li6, Daniel S Olsson7, Karin Engström8, Daniela Pineda9, Christian H Lindh10, Tony Fletcher11, Kristina Jakobsson12. 1. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: yiyi.xu@amm.gu.se. 2. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: christel.nielsen@med.lu.se. 3. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: ying.li@gu.se. 4. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: sofia.hammarstrand@amm.gu.se. 5. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: eva.m.andersson@amm.gu.se. 6. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: huiqi.li@amm.gu.se. 7. Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Endocrinology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: daniel.olsson@gu.se. 8. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: karin.engstrom@med.lu.se. 9. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: daniela.pineda@med.lu.se. 10. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: christian.lindh@med.lu.se. 11. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Electronic address: tony.fletcher@lshtm.ac.uk. 12. School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: kristina.jakobsson@amm.gu.se.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In December 2013, it was discovered that drinking water supplied to one third of the households in Ronneby, southern Sweden, was highly contaminated by PFAS (sum level >10,000 ng/L) originated from firefighting foams used at a nearby military airport. OBJECTIVES: To report serum PFAS levels of Ronneby residents participating in a biomonitoring program, and to describe the variation by age, sex and calendar period for residential exposure. In addition, a reference group living in a neighboring municipality without PFAS contaminated drinking water was examined. METHODS: Blood samples and demographic data were collected for 3297 Ronneby residents and 226 individuals from the reference group. Yearly residence addresses were available for 3086 Ronneby residents from the national population registry. Serum concentrations of PFHxS, PFOS and PFOA were determined in all participants, with additional PFHpA, PFNA and PFDA in subsets of the participants. RESULTS: The population geometric means for serum PFHxS, PFOS and PFOA were 114, 135 and 6.8 ng/mL for all Ronneby residents, i.e.135, 35 and 4.5 times higher than for the reference group. Ronneby residents who resided in the area with contaminated water supply during 2005-2013 showed much higher PFAS levels in 2014 than those exposed only before 2005. Ronneby residents who never resided in the area with contaminated water supply also had higher serum PFAS levels than the reference group. All three PFAS were highly correlated (rs > 0.9 for each pair). Serum PFAS levels were lowest in teenage years and then increased with age. Adult females had lower PFAS levels on average than males under the age of 60 but higher above 60. DISCUSSION: The results reveal high serum PFAS levels dominated by PFHxS and PFOS in the Ronneby residents highly exposed to PFAS originated from firefighting foams. The PFAS exposure in Ronneby permits studies of associations to a range of health parameters, as well as studies of the toxicokinetics of PFAS exposure.
BACKGROUND: In December 2013, it was discovered that drinking water supplied to one third of the households in Ronneby, southern Sweden, was highly contaminated by PFAS (sum level >10,000 ng/L) originated from firefighting foams used at a nearby military airport. OBJECTIVES: To report serum PFAS levels of Ronneby residents participating in a biomonitoring program, and to describe the variation by age, sex and calendar period for residential exposure. In addition, a reference group living in a neighboring municipality without PFAS contaminated drinking water was examined. METHODS: Blood samples and demographic data were collected for 3297 Ronneby residents and 226 individuals from the reference group. Yearly residence addresses were available for 3086 Ronneby residents from the national population registry. Serum concentrations of PFHxS, PFOS and PFOA were determined in all participants, with additional PFHpA, PFNA and PFDA in subsets of the participants. RESULTS: The population geometric means for serum PFHxS, PFOS and PFOA were 114, 135 and 6.8 ng/mL for all Ronneby residents, i.e.135, 35 and 4.5 times higher than for the reference group. Ronneby residents who resided in the area with contaminated water supply during 2005-2013 showed much higher PFAS levels in 2014 than those exposed only before 2005. Ronneby residents who never resided in the area with contaminated water supply also had higher serum PFAS levels than the reference group. All three PFAS were highly correlated (rs > 0.9 for each pair). Serum PFAS levels were lowest in teenage years and then increased with age. Adult females had lower PFAS levels on average than males under the age of 60 but higher above 60. DISCUSSION: The results reveal high serum PFAS levels dominated by PFHxS and PFOS in the Ronneby residents highly exposed to PFAS originated from firefighting foams. The PFAS exposure in Ronneby permits studies of associations to a range of health parameters, as well as studies of the toxicokinetics of PFAS exposure.
Authors: Maksat Babayev; Staci L Capozzi; Pamela Miller; Kelly R McLaughlin; Samarys Seguinot Medina; Samuel Byrne; Guomao Zheng; Amina Salamova Journal: Environ Pollut Date: 2022-03-31 Impact factor: 9.988
Authors: Karin Engström; Anna Axmon; Christel Nielsen; Anna Rignell-Hydbom Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-02-18 Impact factor: 3.390