Perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors in floor dust of children's bedrooms - Implications for indoor exposure

Kerstin Winkens; Georgios Giovanoulis; Jani Koponen; Robin Vestergren; Urs Berger; Anne M Karvonen; Juha Pekkanen; Hannu Kiviranta; Ian T Cousins

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.009

Perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors in floor dust of children's bedrooms - Implications for indoor exposure

Environ Int. 2018 Oct:119:493-502. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.009. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Authors

Kerstin Winkens¹, Georgios Giovanoulis², Jani Koponen³, Robin Vestergren⁴, Urs Berger⁵, Anne M Karvonen³, Juha Pekkanen⁶, Hannu Kiviranta³, Ian T Cousins⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: kerstin.winkens@aces.su.se.
² Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden; IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SE-10031 Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Department of Health Security, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kuopio, Finland.
⁴ IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SE-10031 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Department Analytical Chemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), DE-04318 Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ Department of Health Security, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Kuopio, Finland; Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁷ Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.

PMID: 30053737
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.009

Abstract

We analysed floor dust samples from 65 children's bedrooms in Finland collected in 2014/2015 for 62 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) with a simple and highly efficient method. Validation results from the analysis of standard reference material (SRM) 2585 were in good agreement with literature data, while 24 PFASs were quantified for the first time. In the dust samples from children's bedrooms, five perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were detected in more than half of the samples with the highest median concentration of 5.26 ng/g for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). However, the dust samples were dominated by polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid esters (PAPs) and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) (highest medians: 53.9 ng/g for 6:2 diPAP and 45.7 ng/g for 8:2 FTOH). Several significant and strong correlations (up to ρ = 0.95) were found among different PFASs in dust as well as between PFASs in dust and air samples (previously published) from the same rooms. The logarithm of dust to air concentrations (log K_dust/air) plotted against the logarithm of the octanol-air partition coefficient (log K_oa) resulted in a significant linear regression line with R² > 0.88. Higher dust levels of PFOS were detected in rooms with plastic flooring material in comparison to wood (p < 0.05). Total estimated daily intakes via dust (EDI_dust) and air (EDI_air) of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), including biotransformation of precursors to PFAAs, were calculated for 10.5-year-old children. The total EDI_dust for PFOA and PFOS were estimated to be 0.007 ng/kg bw/day and 0.006 ng/kg bw/day, respectively, in an intermediate exposure scenario. The sum of the total EDIs for all PFAAs was slightly higher for dust than air (0.027 and 0.019 ng/kg bw/day). Precursor biotransformation was generally important for total PFOS intake, while for the PFCAs, FTOH biotransformation was estimated to be important for air, but not for dust exposure.

Keywords: Child exposure; Estimated daily intake (EDI); Fluorotelomer alcohol (FTOH); Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS); Polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid ester (PAP); Standard reference material (SRM 2585).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carboxylic Acids / analysis*
Child
Dust / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants / analysis*
Finland
Floors and Floorcoverings*
Fluorocarbons / analysis*
Humans

Substances

Carboxylic Acids
Dust
Environmental Pollutants
Fluorocarbons