Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), P. O. Box 7028, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2020 Apr 29;22(4):930-944. doi: 10.1039/c9em00497a.
Little is known about the demographic/life-style/physiological determinants explaining the variation of serum perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations in children. We identified significant determinants in children and investigated the influence of low-level PFAA-contaminated drinking water (DW) (<10 ng L-1 of single PFAAs) on serum concentrations. Four perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) and 11 perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) were analyzed in serum from 5th grade children from 11 Swedish schools (N = 200; average age: 12 years) using liquid chromatography-tandem-mass-spectrometry. Data on demography and life-style/physiological factors were obtained by questionnaires. PFAA concentrations in raw and drinking water (DW) were obtained from the water works supplying DW to the schools. In multiple regression analyses school was the determinant contributing most to the variation in PFAA concentrations, with the lowest contribution for PFHpA (10%) and the highest for PFHxS (81%). Girls had lower adjusted mean concentrations of PFHxS, PFOS, PFNA and PFDA than boys, but a higher concentration of PFHxA. Girls reporting onset of menstruation had lower PFHxS and PFOA concentrations than other girls, suggesting menstrual bleeding elimination. Children born by mothers from less industrialized countries had lower mean concentrations of both PFSAs and PFCAs than children with mothers from highly industrialized countries, suggesting differences in early-life exposure. Life-style factors associated with paternal education levels appeared to influence PFAA concentrations differently than maternal education level. Already at an average DW PFHxS concentration of 2 ng L-1, children had a significantly higher adjusted mean serum PFHxS concentration than at an average DW concentration of <1.6 ng PFHxS L-1. Similar results were observed for PFOS and PFOA. The DW variable explained 16% (PFOA) to 78% (PFHxS) of the variation in serum PFAA concentrations, suggesting that low-level-contaminated DW is a significant source of exposure for children in Sweden. Although some of the associations, especially those with menstruation and maternal birth country, should be interpreted with extra caution due to the small size of the study, the results contribute to future work on identifying populations of children at risk of elevated PFAA exposures.
关于解释儿童血清全氟烷基酸（PFAA）浓度变化的人口统计学/生活方式/生理学决定因素，我们知之甚少。我们在儿童中确定了重要的决定因素，并研究了低水平受 PFAA 污染的饮用水（单一 PFAAs 浓度<10ng/L）对血清浓度的影响。使用液相色谱-串联质谱法分析了来自瑞典 11 所学校五年级儿童（N=200；平均年龄：12 岁）血清中的 4 种全氟磺酸（PFSAs）和 11 种全氟羧酸（PFCAs）。通过问卷调查获得人口统计学和生活方式/生理因素的数据。从为学校供水的自来水厂获得饮用水（DW）和 PFAA 浓度。在多元回归分析中，学校是决定 PFAA 浓度变化的最大因素，而对于 PFHpA 的贡献最小（10%），对于 PFHxS 的贡献最大（81%）。与男孩相比，报告初潮的女孩血清中 PFHxS、PFOS、PFNA 和 PFDA 的调整平均浓度较低，但 PFHxA 的浓度较高。与其他女孩相比，初潮女孩的 PFHxS 和 PFOA 浓度较低，表明月经出血消除。母亲来自欠发达国家的儿童的 PFSAs 和 PFCAs 平均浓度均低于母亲来自高度工业化国家的儿童，表明早期生活暴露存在差异。与父亲教育水平相关的生活方式因素似乎对 PFAA 浓度的影响与母亲教育水平不同。即使在 DW PFHxS 浓度平均为 2ng/L 的情况下，儿童的调整后平均血清 PFHxS 浓度也明显高于 DW 浓度平均<1.6ng/L 时的浓度。对于 PFOS 和 PFOA，也观察到类似的结果。DW 变量解释了血清 PFAA 浓度变化的 16%（PFOA）至 78%（PFHxS），表明低水平受污染的 DW 是瑞典儿童暴露的重要来源。尽管由于研究规模较小，一些关联，尤其是与月经和母亲出生国的关联，应谨慎解释，但这些结果有助于未来确定高 PFAA 暴露风险的儿童人群的工作。
