Target analysis and suspect screening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in paired samples of maternal serum, umbilical cord serum, and placenta near fluorochemical plants in Fuxin, China

Jia Bao; Li-Xin Shao; Yang Liu; Shi-Wei Cui; Xin Wang; Gui-Lin Lu; Xue Wang; Yi-He Jin

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135731

Target analysis and suspect screening of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in paired samples of maternal serum, umbilical cord serum, and placenta near fluorochemical plants in Fuxin, China

Chemosphere. 2022 Nov;307(Pt 1):135731. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135731. Epub 2022 Jul 14.

Authors

Jia Bao¹, Li-Xin Shao², Yang Liu³, Shi-Wei Cui⁴, Xin Wang², Gui-Lin Lu², Xue Wang², Yi-He Jin⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, 110870, China. Electronic address: baojia@sut.edu.cn.
² School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, 110870, China.
³ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, 110870, China. Electronic address: liuyang@sut.edu.cn.
⁴ The National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 100050, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.

PMID: 35843426
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135731

Abstract

The levels of legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been growing in the environmental matrices and blood of residents living around the fluorochemical industrial park (FIP) in Fuxin of China over the past decade. Although some recent studies have reported occurrence of novel PFAS alternatives in biotic and abiotic matrices near fluorochemical facilities worldwide, little is known about novel PFAS congeners in maternal sera, umbilical cord sera, and placentas from the female residents close to the FIP and their related health risks. In this study, 50 paired samples of maternal and cord serum as well as placenta were derived from Fuxin pregnant women at delivery, and 21 target analytes of legacy PFASs in all the samples were analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), revealing that PFBS, PFBA, and PFOA were the dominant PFAS contaminants observed in the whole samples. Based upon the suspect screening through high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), 49 novel PFASs assigned to 11 classes were further identified in the Fuxin samples, of which, 20 novel congeners in 4 classes were reported in human blood and placentas for the first time. Moreover, the coefficients for mother-placenta transfer (R_m/p), placenta-newborn transfer (R_p/n), and mother-newborn transfer (R_m/n) of legacy PFASs could be calculated with median values of 1.7, 1.1, and 2.0, respectively, and R_m/p, R_p/n, and R_m/n for each novel PFAS identified were also estimated with the median values of 0.9, 1.2, and 0.8 individually. Accordingly, novel PFASs contributed 90% of all the legacy and novel PFASs in maternal sera and even occupied 96% of the whole PFASs in both placentas and cord sera. In addition, significant associations were determined among the neonate birth outcomes and serum concentrations of thyroid hormone, sex hormone, and glucocorticoid, together with the levels of certain legacy and novel PFASs in cord sera.

Keywords: Health risk; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs); Placental transfer; Prenatal exposure; Suspect screening; Target analysis.

MeSH terms

Alkanesulfonic Acids* / analysis
China
Female
Fluorocarbons* / analysis
Glucocorticoids
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Placenta / chemistry
Pregnancy
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Umbilical Cord

Substances

Alkanesulfonic Acids
Fluorocarbons
Glucocorticoids