Dietary Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Health Risk Assessment in 7-Year-Old Children in Shandong, China

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dietary intake, especially foods of animal origin, is an important source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure to the general population. However, the distribution of legacy and emerging PFAS in different food categories is unclear, as is their potential health risk for children. OBJECTIVES: To investigate dietary sources of PFAS and evaluate the risk for 7-year-old children in Laizhou Wan, a region with high PFAS exposure in Shandong, China. METHODS: We sampled participants from the Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort study. We administered a dietary questionnaire to the parents of 7-year-old children and measured PFAS compounds in the serum of the children (n = 154) and meat and seafood samples (n = 45). We calculated the Mann–Whitney U test to compare serum PFAS levels between children who frequently consumed a specific type of marine fish or shrimp/shellfish and those who did not. Children’s dietary PFAS intake was calculated through multiplying food consumption and PFAS concentrations, and health risks were assessed by comparing the intake of PFAS with health-based guideline values. RESULTS: In seafood, perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) (0.52 ng/g wet weight (ww)), perfluoro-6-methylheptanesulfonic acid (iso-PFOS) (0.02 ng/g ww), and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroethersulfonic acid (0.06 ng/g ww) had the highest median concentrations among 10 linear PFAS, 8 branched isomers of PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and 3 alternatives, respectively. Particularly, PFOA levels (median, 87.80 ng/g) in Zoarces slongatus (one type of marine fish) were approximately 10–100 times of those in other seafood species. Children who frequently consumed Z. slongatus had higher serum PFAS levels, especially PFOA, than those who did not. Seafood intake accounted for more than 80% of the total estimated daily intake of the PFAS. The dietary estimated weekly intake values of four PFASs (PFOA, PFOS, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) for children (7.4 ng/kg of body weight (bw)/week) exceeded the tolerable weekly intake (4.4 ng/kg bw/week) as recommended by the European Food Safety Authority. CONCLUSION: Seafood was widely contaminated by both legacy PFAS and their alternatives in the Laizhou Wan area. Intake of seafood, especially Z. slongatus, may contribute greatly to PFAS exposure in 7-year-old children. Avoiding the intake of high PFAS-polluted seafood may be an important strategy to protect local children.