Perfluorinated compounds in the environment and the blood of residents living near fluorochemical plants in Fuxin, China

Abstract

A fluorochemical industrial park was built in 2004 in Fuxin, China, for the production of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS). Yet little is known about the distribution of fluorochemicals in the environment and in people living in and around the park. In this study, environmental samples were collected from 22 sites in Fuxin to investigate the extent of perfluorinated compound (PFC) contamination in the environment around the park, and in drinking water from the public water supply system and groundwater in shallow aquifers from private wells near the park. Serum samples were also collected from nonoccupationally exposed residents living in Fuxin to determine the PFC load of local residents. As the dominant contaminant of eight target PFCs, the maximum concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in sediment and river water of the River Xi along the industrial park were 48 ng/g dry weight and 668 ng/L, respectively; the highest PFOA concentration in groundwater beneath the park was 524 ng/L; and the PFOA levels in drinking water from the public water supply system ranged between 1.3 and 2.7 ng/L. In human serum, PFOA had the geometric mean at 4.3 ng/mL, ranging from 0.02 to 93 ng/mL. This study serves to document what should be the beginning of a long-term surveillance effort to minimize potential exposure of residents living in Fuxin.