Preliminary assessment of general population exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances through diet in Greece
By Kleopatra Kedikoglo, Danae Costopoulo, Irene Vassiliado, and Leondios Leondiadis
Environmental Research
August 5, 2019
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108617
Abstract
Food and drinking water intake are the major routes of exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) for humans. In this study an initial oral exposure assessment of the non-occupational general Greek population to PFASs is presented. Levels of PFOA and PFOS determined in the present study in 128 food items from the Greek market and previously published analytical results of 43 water samples and 76 egg samples from Greece were combined with food availability data of the DAFNE-ANEMOS database for the calculation of oral intake of PFASs. Fish form the food group with the highest concentration in both PFOA and PFOS. For the general Greek population the estimated average daily intake in PFOA and PFOS when applying the lowerbound mean concentrations in food and drinking water samples is 0.49 and 0.91 ng kg−1 body weight (b.w.) respectively. The main contributor to oral PFAS intake is fish. A pharmacokinetic model is applied to estimate total intake from blood serum levels reported previously and the predicted values are in agreement with lowerbound estimated values. Weekly intake estimated values are below the tolerable weekly intake recently proposed by EFSA.
Highlights
• PFASs were quantified in 204 food items from the Greek market and 43 drinking water samples.
• PFOS is more abundant than PFOA in food samples while PFOA is more abundant in drinking water samples.
• Fish is the major contributor to total intake for both PFOS and PFOA.
• Adult Greek population dietary exposure estimated is within safety limits proposed by EFSA in its Scientific Opinion of 2018.
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