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. 2015 Jan;57(1):88-97.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000307.

Biomonitoring in California firefighters: metals and perfluorinated chemicals

Dina Dobraca  1 , Leslie Israel, Sandra McNeel, Robert Voss, Miaomiao Wang, Ryszard Gajek, June-Soo Park, Suhash Harwani, Frank Barley, Jianwen She, Rupali Das
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Biomonitoring in California firefighters: metals and perfluorinated chemicals

Dina Dobraca et al. J Occup Environ Med. 2015 Jan.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Objective: To assess California firefighters' blood concentrations of selected chemicals and compare with a representative US population.

Methods: We report laboratory methods and analytic results for cadmium, lead, mercury, and manganese in whole blood and 12 serum perfluorinated chemicals in a sample of 101 Southern California firefighters.

Results: Firefighters' blood metal concentrations were all similar to or lower than the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) values, except for six participants whose mercury concentrations (range: 9.79 to 13.42 μg/L) were close to or higher than the NHANES reporting threshold of 10 μg/L. Perfluorodecanoic acid concentrations were elevated compared with NHANES and other firefighter studies.

Conclusions: Perfluorodecanoic acid concentrations were three times higher in this firefighter group than in NHANES adult males. Firefighters may have unidentified sources of occupational exposure to perfluorinated chemicals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Specimen collection and transport flow chart for the FOX study, 2010 to 2011. EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; PFCs, perfluorinated chemicals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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