Objectives: Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) can be released of perfluorinated compounds by biotic and/or metabolic decomposition. Due to their ubiquitous occurrence, persistence and bioaccumulative properties they can be found in blood of the general population all over the world. In animal studies PFOS and PFOA provoked cancer and showed developmental toxic potential besides other adverse health effects. On the basis of the comparison of maternal and umbilical cord plasma sample pairs we wanted to examine whether infants are exposed to PFOS and PFOA via their mothers' blood.
Methods: We determined PFOS and PFOA in 11 plasma samples of mothers and the 11 corresponding cord plasma samples of neonates. An analytical method based on plasma protein precipitation followed by HPLC with MS/MS-detection was employed. As internal standards we used 1,2,3,4-(13)C(4)-PFOS and 1,2-(13)C(2)-PFOA.
Results: We found PFOS and PFOA in every plasma sample analysed. In maternal plasma samples PFOS concentrations were consistently higher compared to those of the related cord plasma samples (median: 13.0 microg/l vs. 7.3 microg/l). In the case of PFOA we observed only minor differences between PFOA concentrations within the analysed sample pairs (median: 2.6 microg/l vs. 3.4 microg/l for maternal and cord plasma samples, respectively).
Discussion: For both substances a crossing of the placental barrier could be shown. For PFOS we observed a decrease from maternal to cord plasma concentrations by a factor of 0.41-0.80. To the contrary, PFOA crosses the placental barrier obviously unhindered. These findings show that neonates are exposed to PFOS and PFOA via their mothers' blood. Given the current situation that only little is known about the consequences of PFOS and PFOA exposure in the early state of development of humans and the fact that in animal studies both substances showed developmental toxic effects further research regarding human health effects is indispensable.