Title: Beyond Legacy PFAS: Human Exposure to Novel PFAS and PFAS Mixtures
Chairs:
Carrie McDonough, Carnegie Mellon University Department of Chemistry
Natalia Soares Quinete, Florida International University, Department of Chemistry
Amina Salamova, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a compound class comprised of thousands of fluorinated organic compounds that are extensively used in various industrial and consumer applications such as water-, grease-, and stain-repellents, surfactants, and lubricants. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), commonly referred to as legacy PFAS, have been widely used since the 1940s. However, their manufacturing and use have been regulated over the last two decades due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity to wildlife and humans. As a result of these restrictions, other PFAS have become more widely used and are now being discovered and measured in environmental samples and human tissues due to advances in analytical chemistry (e.g., non-targeted analysis). Legacy PFAS are known to be widespread in human blood but accumulation of novel PFAS in human fluids and tissues is incipient and much remains to be learned about human exposure, toxicokinetics, and effects for these novel compounds. This symposium focuses on human exposure to PFAS of emerging and immediate concern and progress towards a more comprehensive understanding of total PFAS body burden, and will not include discussions of only “legacy” PFAS (PFOS and PFOA). In addition, research using innovative approaches to characterize the PFAS exposome elucidating human health outcomes from environmental exposure would be of interest.