PFAS Exposure Pathways for Humans and Wildlife: A Synthesis of Current Knowledge and Key Gaps in Understanding
By Amila O. De Silva, J. Armitage, T. Bruton, Clifton Dassuncao, W. Heiger-Bernays, Xindi C. Hu, Anna Kärrman, B. Kelly, Carla A. Ng, Anna R. Robuck and 3 more. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2020
670 citations recorded by the source corpus.
We synthesize current understanding of the magnitudes and methods for assessing human and wildlife exposures to poly‐ and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Most human exposure assessments have focused on 2 to 5 legacy PFAS, and wildlife assessments are typically limited to targeted PFAS (up to ~30 substances). However, shifts in chemical production are occurring rapidly, and targeted methods for detecting PFAS have not kept pace with these changes. Total fluorine measurements complemented by suspect screening using high‐resolution mass spectrometry are thus emerging as essential tools for PFAS exposure assessment. Such methods enable researchers to better understand contributions from precursor compounds that degrade into terminal perfluoroalkyl acids. Available data suggest that diet is the major human exposure pathway for some PFAS, but there is large variability across populations and PFAS compounds. Additional data on total fluorine in exposure media and the fraction of unidentified organofluorine are needed. Drinking water has been established as the major exposure source in contaminated communities. As water supplies are remediated, for the general population, exposures from dust, personal care products, indoor environments, and other sources may be more important. A major challenge for exposure assessments is the lack of statistically representative population surveys. For wildlife, bioaccumulation processes differ substantially between PFAS and neutral lipophilic organic compounds, prompting a reevaluation of traditional bioaccumulation metrics. There is evidence that both phospholipids and proteins are important for the tissue partitioning and accumulation of PFAS. New mechanistic models for PFAS bioaccumulation are being developed that will assist in wildlife risk evaluations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:631–657. © 2020 SETAC
Subfields: Environmental Chemistry, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
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In Environmental Chemistry
In Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Citations in the corpus
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the environment (2022, positive): “Seabirds, marine mammals, and terrestrial species show the greatest magnification factors compared with exclusively aquatic food webs in which organisms with gills eliminate perfluoroalkyl acids more efficiently (120).”