Serum levels of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) with isomer analysis and their associations with medical parameters in Chinese pregnant women

• The mean proportion of n-PFOS in maternal serum was 66.7%.
• The proportion of n-PFOA was much higher than in 3M ECF standard.
• The proportion of n-PFOS was negatively correlated with the concentration of ∑PFOS.
• The levels of most PFCAs correlated with albumin significantly.
• The percentages of PFOS or PFOA isomers were related to some health parameters.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of chemicals used for many applications and widely present in the environment and humans. In this study, serum levels of PFAAs and isomers of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) were analyzed in 141 Chinese pregnant women. Among all the samples, total PFOS (∑ PFOS, mean concentration 7.32 ng/mL) was predominant, followed by ∑ PFOA (mean 4.78 ng/mL) and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA, mean 1.45 ng/mL). On average, the proportion of linear PFOS (n-PFOS) was 66.7% of ∑ PFOS, which was higher than the general population, implying that maternal women could excrete branched PFOS isomers to the fetus by transplacental transfer. Moreover, the proportion of n-PFOS decreased significantly with the increasing concentration of ∑ PFOS in the serum samples (r = − 0.342, p < 0.001). The mean proportion of n-PFOA in the serum samples was 99.0%, which was much higher than the technical ECF (electrochemical fluorination) products (ca. 70%). The small proportion of branched isomers of PFOA suggests that there is still a source of ECF PFOA in China. Significant correlations (p < 0.005) were observed between the concentrations of some PFAAs with certain medical parameters in the pregnant women. For example, the levels of most perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were found to correlate with albumin significantly, which might be a sign of immunotoxicity of these chemicals. The adverse effects of PFAA exposure to pregnant women may increase the health risk of the fetus. Interestingly, not only the PFAA concentrations but also the percentages of PFOS and PFOA isomers were correlated with certain medical parameters. This implies that the compositions of PFOS or PFOA should be considered in human health risk assessment in the future.

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