Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products

Matthias Kotthoff; Josef Müller; Heinrich Jürling; Martin Schlummer; Dominik Fiedler

doi:10.1007/s11356-015-4202-7

Lifestyle and Environment · Environmental Exposures

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products

Kotthoff M, Müller J, Jürling H, Schlummer M, Fiedler D

Published October 2015 Environmental science and pollution research international, 22(19), 14546-59

DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4202-7 PMID 25854201 PMC PMC4592498

RRM Academy Synopsis

PFAS were found in ski wax, leather, carpets and outdoor textiles

A laboratory analysis of 115 random consumer products found high PFAS levels in ski waxes, leather, outdoor textiles and some older baking papers. PFAS are chemicals used to make products repel water and grease. Some carpet, leather and outdoor-material samples exceeded the EU limit for PFOS. Cleaning agents tested had low or negligible PFSA and PFCA, two PFAS acid groups.

Key Findings

Ski waxes held the highest levels, with PFOA up to about 2000 micrograms per kilogram. Leather, outdoor textiles and some older baking papers also showed high PFAS levels.
Samples above the EU limit for PFOS in coated products: 83% of carpets (n = 6), 100% of outdoor clothing (n = 6) and 77% of leather (n = 13).
Three archived muffin baking forms bought before 2010 held PFOA two orders of magnitude above the recent paper samples.
No outdoor textile sample was free of the fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOH) 6:2, 8:2 and 10:2, and impregnating sprays carried the highest FTOH levels.
Among outdoor textiles, PFDA and PFOA levels correlated with FTOH 10:2 and 8:2 (r = 0.957, p = 0.0013). The correlation with PFSA was lower (r = 0.185; p = 0.3626).

Interpretation

The study is a laboratory survey of product contents. Two Fraunhofer laboratories measured 115 random product samples. The samples were bought from local retailers or collected from co-workers and local clubs in the first three quarters of 2010. A few older archived samples were added, which the authors call clearly biased. The authors say contamination did not seem to follow quality or price, and looked randomly distributed. They write that exposure estimates for children, such as hand-to-mouth contact with gloves, need future research.

RRM Context

The paper's introduction reports PFAS in human blood and breast milk. The authors note that a European Chemicals Agency committee has classified PFOA as toxic to reproduction. Restorative reproductive medicine takes a cause-based view of reproductive health. That view includes chemicals where couples live, work and shop.

Our editorial summary of this paper, not the article's abstract.

Abstract

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in a wide range of products of all day life. Due to their toxicological potential, an emerging focus is directed towards their exposure to humans. This study investigated the PFAS load of consumer products in a broad perspective. Perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (C4, C6-C8, C10-PFSA), carboxylic acids (C4-C14-PFCA) and fluorotelomer alcohols (4:2, 6:2; 8:2 and 10:2 FTOH) were analysed in 115 random samples of consumer products including textiles (outdoor materials), carpets, cleaning and impregnating agents, leather samples, baking and sandwich papers, paper baking forms and ski waxes. PFCA and PFSA were analysed by HPLC-MS/MS, whereas FTOH were detected by GC/CI-MS. Consumer products such as cleaning agents or some baking and sandwich papers show low or negligible PFSA and PFCA contents. On the other hand, high PFAS levels were identified in ski waxes (up to about 2000 μg/kg PFOA), leather samples (up to about 200 μg/kg PFBA and 120 μg/kg PFBS), outdoor textiles (up to 19 μg/m(2) PFOA) and some other baking papers (up to 15 μg/m(2) PFOA). Moreover, some test samples like carpet and leather samples and outdoor materials exceeded the EU regulatory threshold value for PFOS (1 μg/m(2)). A diverse mixture of PFASs can be found in consumer products for all fields of daily use in varying concentrations. This study proves the importance of screening and monitoring of consumer products for PFAS loads and the necessity for an action to regulate the use of PFASs, especially PFOA, in consumer products.

Topics

Lifestyle and Environment Environmental Exposures Persistent Organic Pollutants

Lifestyle and Environment › Environmental Exposures › Persistent Organic Pollutants

Matthias Kotthoff, Josef Müller, Heinrich Jürling, Martin Schlummer, Dominik Fiedler

M Kotthoff, J Müller, H Jürling, M Schlummer, D Fiedler

PMID 25854201 25854201 DOI 10.1007/s11356-015-4202-7 10.1007/s11356-015-4202-7 Kotthoff et al. 2015, Kotthoff 2015

Keywords

Consumer products, Food contact materials, Outdoor textiles, PFAA, PFAS, PFOA, PFOS, Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products

PFAS were found in ski wax, leather, carpets and outdoor textiles

Key Findings

Interpretation

RRM Context

Abstract

Topics

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Keywords