Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances in a cohort of women firefighters and office workers in San Francisco

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Environ Sci Technol
• Personal Author:
  Trowbridge, Jessica ; Gerona, Roy R. ; Lin, Thomas ; Rudel, Ruthann A. ; Bessonneau, Vincent ; Buren, Heather ; Morello-Frosch, Rachel
• Description:
  Studies of firefighters have shown increased exposures to carcinogenic compounds and elevated rates of certain cancers compared to the general population, yet this research has focused almost exclusively on men. To address this gap, the Women Firefighters Biomonitoring Collaborative created a biological sample archive and analyzed levels of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) among women firefighters (| = 86) and office workers (| = 84) in San Francisco. Serum samples were collected and analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to measure and compare PFAS levels between firefighters and office workers. 7 of 12 PFAS congeners were detected in the least 70% of the study population, and 4 congeners were detected in 100% of participants. In regression models comparing PFAS levels by occupation and adjusting for potential confounders, firefighters had higher geometric mean concentrations of PFAS compared to office workers PFHxS (2.22 (95% CI = 1.55, 3.18)), PFUnDA (1.83 (95% CI = 0.97, 3.45)), and PFNA (1.26 (95% CI = 1.01, 1.58)). Among firefighters, occupational position predicted exposure-firefighters and officers had higher PFNA, PFOA, PFDA, and PFUnDA levels compared to drivers. Women firefighters are exposed to higher levels of some PFAS compared to office workers, suggesting that some of these exposures may be occupationally related.
• Subjects:
  Alkanesulfonic Acids Article Chromatography, Liquid Environmental Pollutants Female Firefighters Fluorocarbons Humans Male San Francisco Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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• Source:
  Environ Sci Technol. 54(6):3363-3374
• Pubmed ID:
  32100527
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7244264
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 ES027051/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; T42 OH008429/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  54
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b91ef7d2d3a2e350f1a284edfa9fc9aab0059b8a8e7e3022a9de2e78dfc4b72850fe5907665495fa0bc2c6a243133ea581e0d14ab46bcbaab104be253befaa8c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/88288/cdc_88288_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 629.53 KB ]