CIREEHwiki | Main / Exposure & Health Effects of PFCs--Research at Boston University School of Public Health

Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs)
We are also investigating exposure and health effects of PFCs (the chemistry is quite complicated, leading to various related names: perfluorinated compounds, polyfluorinated alkyl compounds, etc). This class of compounds are used widely in commercial and industrial applications as surfactants, paper and textile coatings, and in food packaging. A number of PFCs are commonly found in human serum, particularly PFOS and PFOA (also called 'C8')

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

Exposure to PFCs is poorly understood, although both the indoor environment and diet are suspected. Contamination of food might occur via both bioaccumulation and transfer from food packaging. It has been hypothesized that one source of PFCs found in human serum are precursor compounds that are degraded or metabolized into the persistent compounds that we observe.

Projects at BUSPH

Health effects: We have published two papers on potential health effects of PFCs. Using data from the CDC's extraordinarily valuable National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we found an association between several PFCs and cholesterol in the blood of the general US population: Nelson et al. 2009. Also using NHANES, we reported an association between PFCs and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Hoffman et al 2010.
West Virginia/Ohio: An area along the WV/OH border was contaminated by PFOA from a manufacturing facility. Dr. Veronica Vieira heads up the BUSPH part of the research on exposure and health effects in this community, in collaboration with the C8 Science Panel. Exposure is principally via drinking water, presumably a consequence of the surfactant properties of PFOA that make it far more soluble in water that typical POPs.
Exposure: Stay tuned!

News

13 September 2010: Tom Webster gave the opening plenary, "Indoor Exposure to PBDEs and PFCs: You’re Not Just What You Eat" at Dioxin 2010, the 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010). Our group had a large number of other papers as well on PBDEs, alternative flame retardants and PFCs.
13 August 2010: Alicia Fraser defends her dissertation "Assessing Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Polyfluroinated Compounds from Diet and the Indoor Environment"
3 May 2010: Kate Hoffman defends her dissertation "Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals and Learning and Developmental Disabilities: Epidemiology and Exposure Assessment"
2 November 2009: New article in Environmental Health Perspectives by doctoral student Jessica Nelson, Elizabeth Hatch and Tom Webster on the association between perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) and cholesterol in the general US population. It received extensive press coverage, including an interview of Jessica Nelson on NPR's "Living on Earth."

Publications

Fraser AJ, Webster TF, Watkins DJ, Nelson J, Stapleton HM, Calafat AM, Kato K, Shoeib M, Vieira V, McClean MD. Polyfluorinated Compounds in Serum Linked to Indoor Air in Office Environments. Environ Sci Technol [online 8 December 2011]. DOI: 10.1021/es2038257.
Hoffman K, Webster TF, Bartell SM, Weisskopf MG, Fletcher T, Vieira VM. Private Drinking Water Wells as a Source of Exposure to PFOA in Communities Surrounding a Fluoropolymer Production Facility. Environ Health Perspect. 2011; 119:92-97. [Online 4 October 2010] The full text is freely available doi:10.1289/ehp.1002503.
Hoffman K, Webster TF, Weisskopf MG, Weinberg J, Vieira VM. Exposure to Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in U.S. Children Aged 12-15 Years. Environ Health Perspect 2010; 118:1762-176. [Online 15 June 2010] The full text is freely available doi:10.1289/ehp.1001898.
Harrad S, Abdallah M, de Wit C, Östman C, Bergh C, Covaci A, Darnerud PO, de Boer J, Leonards P, Diamond M, Huber S, Mandalakis M, Haug L, Thomsen C, Webster T. Indoor contamination with hexachlorocyclododecanes, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and perfluoroalkyl compounds: An important exposure pathway? Environ Sci Technol 2010; 4:3221–3231 [Accepted 31 March 2010]. Abstract and full text (for ES&T subscribers): DOI: 10.1021/es903476t.
Nelson JW, Hatch EE, Webster TF. Exposure to Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals and Cholesterol, Body Weight, and Insulin Resistance in the General U.S. Population. Environ Health Perspect. 2010; 18:197-202. [Online 2 November 2009]. The full text is freely available doi:10.1289/ehp.0901165.
Steenland K, Jin C, MacNeil J, Lally C, Ducatman A, Vieira V, Fletcher T. Predictors of PFOA Levels in a Community Surrounding a Chemical Plant. Environ Health Perspect 2009; 117(7):1083-1088. The full text is freely available here.

Conference and seminar presentations:

Power MC, Webster TF, Weisskopf MG. CROSS-SECTIONAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN POLYFLUOROALKYL CHEMICALS AND TWO MEASURES OF COGNITVE FUNCTION IN THE NATIONAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY (NHANES). International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (Barcelona Spain, 13-16 September 2011).
Webster, T. Indoor Exposure to PBDEs and PFCs: You’re Not Just What You Eat. Dioxin 2010: 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010).
Nelson J, Fraser A, Hatch E, Scammell M, Webster T. FAST FOOD CONSUMPTION AND OTHER DIETARY MEASURES PREDICT PFC SERUM CONCENTRaTIONS IN THE U.S. POPULATION. Dioxin 2010: 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010).
Fraser A, Webster T, Watkins D, Nelson J, Stapleton H, Calafat A, Kato K, Shoeib M, Vieira V, McClean M. PFCs IN INDOOR OFFICE AIR: CONCENTRATIONS AND CONTRIBUTION TO EXPOSURE. Dioxin 2010: 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010).
Vieira V, Shin H, Ryan P, Detwiler R, Sanders B, Webster T, Fletcher T, Bartell S. PFOA-CONTAMINATED SITE SURROUNDING A TEFLON MANUFACTURING FACILITY. Dioxin 2010: 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010).
Hoffman K, Webster T, Weisskopf M, Weinberg J, Vieira V. EXPOSURE TO POLYFLUOROALKYL CHEMICALS AND ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER IN US CHILDREN. Dioxin 2010: 30th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants (San Antonio, Texas 12-17 September 2010).
Vieira et al. Private drinking water wells as a source of exposure to PFOA in communities surrounding a Washington, West Virginia fluoropolymer production facility. ISES-ISEE 2010: 2010 Joint Conference of International Society of Exposure Science & International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (Seoul, South Korea, 28 August - 1 September, 2010).
Nelson JW, Fraser AJ, Hatch E, Scammell M, Webster TF. Fast food consumption and other dietary measures predict PFC serum concentrations in the U.S. population. PFAA Days III (Research Triangle Park, NC, 8-10 June 2010
Fraser AJ, Webster TF, Watkins DJ, Nelson JW, Stapleton HM, Calafat AM, Shoeib M, Kato K, Viera VM, McClean MD. PFCs in indoor office air: Concentrations and Contributions to exposure. PFAA Days III (Research Triangle Park, NC, 8-10 June 2010
Hoffman K, Webster TF, Bartell SM, Weisskopf MG, Fletcher T, Vieira VM. Private drinking water wells as a source of exposure to PFOA in communities surrounding a fluoropolymer production facility. PFAA Days III (Research Triangle Park, NC, 8-10 June 2010
Hoffman K, Webster TF, Weisskopf MG, Weinberg J, Vieira VM. Exposure to Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in U.S. Children Aged 12-15 Years. PFAA Days III (Research Triangle Park, NC, 8-10 June 2010
Nelson JW, Fraser AJ, Webster TF. Fast food consumption and other dietary measures predict PFC serum concentrations in the U.S. population. Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Endocrine Disruptors (Les Diablerets, Switzerland, 30 May- 4 June 2010)
Webster, TF. Indoor Exposure to PBDEs and PFCs. 1st International Workshop on SVOCs in the Indoor Environment (Beijing, 31 May -2 June 2010).
Nelson JW, Hatch EJ, Webster TF. Certain Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals Associated with Higher Cholesterol in the General U.S. Population. Presented at ISEE 2009. Dublin, Ireland, 26-29 August 2009.
Hoffman K, Vieira V, Webster TF, White R. Exposure to polyfluoroalkyl chemicals and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in U.S. children aged 12-15 years. Presented at ISEE 2009. Dublin, Ireland, 26-29 August 2009.

Conferences

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