Contribution to the evaluation of reference values for PFOA and PFOS in plasma of children and adults from Germany

Perfluorinated compounds (PFC) are a large group of chemicals produced for several decades and widely used for many industrial and consumer applications. Human Biomonitoring studies reveal a background exposure of the general population to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and pefluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in many parts of the world. Reference values for PFOS and PFOA in the German population are currently not available. However, the data of three PFC human biomonitoring studies are taken as basis for deriving a preliminary reference value. The first two studies were performed in southern Germany with 105 (sampling period 2003–2004) and 356 adults (sampling period 2005). The third study was performed in North Rhine-Westphalia (sampling period October and November 2006) in connection with the high PFOA contamination of drinking water in the Sauerland region. Non PFOA exposed control groups comprised of 80 children and 153 females from Siegen and 103 men from Brilon. The whole study which could be taken as a basis for PFOS reference considerations comprised of 170 children, 317 females and 204 men. Though the studies are not representative for the German population, they provide at present the best available data basis for deriving reference values. The 95th percentile values of the studies were used and the following preliminary reference values are recommended: PFOA, 10 μg/l for all groups; for PFOS 10 μg/l for children at school beginner age, 15 μg/l for adult females and 25 μg/l for adult males.