Background levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants in humans from Taiwan: Perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid

•To determine the background levels of PFOS and PFOA in the Taiwanese population.•Investigate the age-, gender-factors that are potentially related.•To compare with various countries.•We report the PFOS and PFOA levels of serum samples in the general population of Taiwan.•The concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in Taiwanese serum samples were no higher than those from other countries.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have recently received attention due to their widespread contamination of the environment. PFOS and PFOA are stable in the environment and resistant to metabolism, hydrolysis, photolysis and biodegradation. PFOS and PFOA have been found in human blood and tissue samples from both occupationally exposed workers and the general worldwide population. This study aimed to determine the background levels of PFOS and PFOA in the Taiwanese population, investigate related factors, and compare exposure in Taiwan to that in other countries. The concentration of PFOS in the 59 serum samples collected from the general population in Taiwan ranged from 3.45 to 25.65 ng mL−1 (median: 8.52), and the concentration of PFOA ranged from 1.55 to 7.69 ng mL−1 (median: 3.22). There was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.51; p < 0.0001) between PFOS and PFOA concentrations. Males had higher concentrations of PFOA and PFOS than females. PFOS levels in serum increased with age. This study is the first investigation to reveal the PFOS and PFOA levels of serum samples in the general population of Taiwan. The levels of PFOS and PFOA in Taiwanese serum samples were comparable with those from other countries (PFOS: 5.0–35 ng mL−1, PFOA: 1.5–10 ng mL−1).