Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Related Perfluorinated Compounds in Human Maternal and Cord Blood Samples: Assessment of PFOS Exposure in a Susceptible Population during Pregnancy
Koichi Inoue,1 Fumio Okada,1 Rie Ito,1 Shizue Kato,2 Seiko Sasaki,2 Sonomi Nakajima,2 Akiko Uno,2 Yasuaki Saijo,2 Fumihiro Sata,2 Yoshihiro Yoshimura,1 Reiko Kishi,2 and Hiroyuki Nakazawa1 1Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hoshi University, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Public Health, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan
Abstract
Fluorinated organic compounds (FOCs), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluoro-octanoate (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonylamide (PFOSA), are widely used in the manufacture of plastic, electronics, textile, and construction material in the apparel, leather, and upholstery industries. FOCs have been detected in human blood samples. Studies have indicated that FOCs may be detrimental to rodent development possibly by affecting thyroid hormone levels. In the present study, we determined the concentrations of FOCs in maternal and cord blood samples. Pregnant women 17-37 years of age were enrolled as subjects. FOCs in 15 pairs of maternal and cord blood samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry coupled with online extraction. The limits of quantification of PFOS, PFOA, and PFOSA in human plasma or serum were 0.5, 0.5, and 1.0 ng/mL, respectively. The method enables the precise determination of FOCs and can be applied to the detection of FOCs in human blood samples for monitoring human exposure. PFOS concentrations in maternal samples ranged from 4.9 to 17.6 ng/mL, whereas those in fetal samples ranged from 1.6 to 5.3 ng/mL. In contrast, PFOSA was not detected in fetal or maternal samples, whereas PFOA was detected only in maternal samples (range, < 0.5 to 2.3 ng/mL, 4 of 15). Our results revealed a high correlation between PFOS concentrations in maternal and cord blood (r2 = 0.876). However, we did not find any significant correlations between PFOS concentration in maternal and cord blood samples and age bracket, birth weight, or levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone or free thyroxine. Our study revealed that human fetuses in Japan may be exposed to relatively high levels of FOCs. Further investigation is required to determine the postnatal effects of fetal exposure to FOCs. Key words: cord blood, fluorinated organic compounds, human, PFOA, PFOS, PFOSA, pregnancy. Environ Health Perspect 112:1204-1207 (2004). [Online 13 April 2004]
Address correspondence to H. Nakazawa, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hoshi University, 2-4-41 Ebara, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-8501, Japan. Telephone: 81-3-5498-5763. Fax: 81-3-5498-5062. E-mail: nakazawa@hoshi.ac.jp
This study was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Health Sciences Research grants from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.
Received 17 November 2003; accepted 13 April 2004.
