Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Office of Community Health and Hazard Assessment, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA, 30341, United States.
New York State Department of Health, Center for Environmental Health, Division of Environmental Health Assessment, Empire State Plaza-Corning Tower, Albany, NY, 12237, United States; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, 12144, United States.
Environ Res. 2022 Mar;204(Pt C):112309. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112309. Epub 2021 Oct 30.
Onondaga Lake in central New York State was listed as a Superfund site in 1994 due to industrial disposal of pollutants. A biomonitoring program was conducted to assess exposure to over 70 legacy contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern in populations disproportionately at risk for exposure residing near Onondaga Lake and to educate these communities on how to reduce exposures. The populations of focus were refugees from Burma and Bhutan and low-income, primarily African American, anglers (urban anglers). These communities consume locally caught fish for economic as well as cultural reasons and therefore may be at higher risk of exposure. This study focuses on assessment of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and associations with local fish consumption. Using respondent driven sampling, 311 refugees and 89 urban anglers were enrolled in the study. Following informed consent, study participants provided blood and urine specimens and completed a questionnaire. Percentiles of locally caught fish meals in the past 12 months by race/ethnicity groups showed that the Burmese participants of Karen ethnicity were the highest consumers, with a median of 135 meals compared to 103 meals for the other Burmese participants, 70 meals for the urban anglers, and 44 meals for the Bhutanese participants. Compared to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-16 sample of the general U.S. population, the Karen participants had markedly elevated perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) levels with median serum concentrations 9.5 times greater (41.6 ng/mL vs. 4.4 ng/mL) and 26.9 times greater (2.69 ng/mL vs. 0.10 ng/mL), respectively; the other Burmese participants had moderately elevated levels of PFOS and PFDA with median serum concentrations 3.0 times greater (13.3 ng/mL vs. 4.4 ng/mL) and 7.3 greater times greater (0.73 ng/mL vs. 0.10 ng/mL), respectively; and, PFAS levels were not elevated in the Bhutanese or urban angler cohorts. Male gender was consistently the strongest predictor of PFAS exposure among all study cohorts. A positive association between local fish consumption was indicated only for PFOS among urban anglers. An association between local fish consumption and PFAS was not statistically significant among the refugee cohorts, perhaps due to the lack of 'lower-end' exposure or exposure variability. Community events were held by the program staff to present the biomonitoring results and distribute community outreach materials with visual aids specific for the study populations to promote safe fish eating.
纽约州中部的奥农达加湖于 1994 年被列为超级基金场址，原因是工业污染物的排放。开展了一项生物监测计划，以评估 70 多种遗留污染物和新出现的关注污染物在奥农达加湖附近居住的、不成比例地面临接触风险的人群中的接触情况，并向这些社区提供有关如何减少接触的教育。重点人群是来自缅甸和不丹的难民以及低收入、主要是非洲裔美国的垂钓者（城市垂钓者）。这些社区出于经济和文化原因消费当地捕获的鱼类，因此可能面临更高的接触风险。本研究重点评估接触全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）的情况以及与当地鱼类消费的关系。研究人员采用应答驱动抽样法，共招募了 311 名难民和 89 名城市垂钓者。在获得知情同意后，研究参与者提供了血液和尿液样本，并完成了一份调查问卷。按种族/族裔群体划分的过去 12 个月当地捕获鱼类餐数的百分位数显示，来自缅甸的克伦族参与者是最高的消费者，中位数为 135 餐，而其他缅甸参与者为 103 餐，城市垂钓者为 70 餐，不丹参与者为 44 餐。与 2015-16 年美国全国健康和营养检查调查（NHANES）的一般美国人群样本相比，克伦族参与者的全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）和全氟癸酸（PFDA）水平明显升高，血清浓度中位数分别高出 9.5 倍（41.6ng/ml 比 4.4ng/ml）和 26.9 倍（2.69ng/ml 比 0.10ng/ml）；其他缅甸参与者的 PFOS 和 PFDA 水平也有适度升高，血清浓度中位数分别高出 3.0 倍（13.3ng/ml 比 4.4ng/ml）和 7.3 倍（0.73ng/ml 比 0.10ng/ml）；而不丹人和城市垂钓者的 PFAS 水平没有升高。男性性别是所有研究人群中 PFAS 暴露的最强预测因素。城市垂钓者的 PFOS 与当地鱼类消费呈正相关。难民群体中，当地鱼类消费与 PFAS 之间的关联没有统计学意义，这可能是由于缺乏“低端”暴露或暴露变异性。该项目工作人员举办了社区活动，介绍生物监测结果，并分发针对研究人群的社区外展材料，其中包括视觉辅助工具，以促进安全食用鱼类。
