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Food Standards Agency
www.food.gov.uk
PERFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS IN THE UK 2004 TOTAL DIET
David Mortimer
Environmental Contaminants BranchChemical Safety DivisionFood Standards Agency
December 2005 - Buncefield Oil Depot, Hemel Hempstead, UK -one of the largest fires in peacetime Europe
Photos: Royal Chiltern Air Support Unit
40 million litres of PFOS-based foam usedOver 20 Ml of contaminated fire water still to be treated and disposed ofPFOS concentration ca. 1.2 mg/l
Poisonous legacy of Buncefield fire‘Ministers were set to ban PFOS, a lethal chemical. They secretly backtracked after Buncefield left our water tables contaminated’
Independent, 05/05/2006
Agency anger over Buncefield toxic wasteGuardian, 25/07/2006‘Some 800,000 litres of stored firewater, laced with hazardous chemicals and spent firefighting foam, leaked from a separate site into the River Colne’
Toxic legacy poses a giant problem‘Officials are most concerned about a toxic substance called PFOS or perfluorooctane sulphonate …’
Guardian, 07/02/2006
Jersey Airport -contamination of water table with PFOS
September 2006 - PFOS reported in eels in the Thames November 2006 - Greenpeace
Germany report on PFOS in chips
PFOS and PFOA• Highly resistant to chemical and biological
degradation (as for PFCs in general)– AFFF, surface treatments (waterproofing, stain
resistance etc), non-stick surfaces • Bioaccumulative (protein-binding)• Toxic effects not yet well understood • Reported in fish, meat, apples, beans• Found in human milk
Total Diet Study - approach• Models typical UK diet• Based on nation-wide consumption studies• Samples from towns and cities throughout UK• 120 sub-groups• Food group composites prepared from up to 100 individual
samples• 20 final food groups
Shellfish - prawns, mussels, scallops
Other canned fish - tuna, herring, pilchards, mackerel
Canned salmon – Pacific salmon, Alaskan pink salmon, wild red salmon
Frozen fish products – cod fish fingers, hoki fish fingers, salmon fishcakes, cod fishcakes, cod steaks in parsley sauce, mariners' pie, Admiral’s pie
Cooked white fish - battered cod, battered haddock
Oily fish – fresh mackerel, smoked mackerel, trout, kippers
White fish - fillets of cod, haddock, plaice, whiting
Fish Group
Compounds MeasuredChemical compound Abbrev. Perfluorooctane sulphonate PFOS Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA Perfluorooctanesulphonylamide PFOSA Perfluorobutane sulphonate PFBS Perfluorohexane sulphonate PFHxS Perfluoropentanoic acid PFPeA Perfluorohexanoic acid PFHxA Perfluoroheptanoic acid PFHpA Perfluorononanoic acid PFNA Perfluorodecanoic acid PFDeA Perfluoroundecanoic acid PFUnA Perfluorododecanoic acid PFDoA Perfluorotetradecanoic acid PFTdA Perfluorohexadecanoic acid PFHdA Perfluorooctadecanoic acid PFOdA
Compounds DetectedChemical compound Abbrev. Number
above LOD Perfluorooctane sulphonate PFOS 4 Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA 1 Perfluorooctanesulphonylamide PFOSA 1 Perfluorobutane sulphonate PFBS 2 Perfluorohexane sulphonate PFHxS 1 Perfluoropentanoic acid PFPeA 0 Perfluorohexanoic acid PFHxA 1 Perfluoroheptanoic acid PFHpA 0 Perfluorononanoic acid PFNA 1 Perfluorodecanoic acid PFDeA 1 Perfluoroundecanoic acid PFUnA 1 Perfluorododecanoic acid PFDoA 1 Perfluorotetradecanoic acid PFTdA 1 Perfluorohexadecanoic acid PFHdA 0 Perfluorooctadecanoic acid PFOdA 0
Food group PFOS PFOA Food group PFOS PFOABread <20 <5 Green
vegetables <3 <1
Miscellaneous cereals
<10 <5 Other vegetables <3 <10
Carcass meats <10 <2 Fresh fruit <2 <5 Offal <20 <2 Fruit products <1 <5 Meat products <10 <2 Beverages <0.5 <0.5 Poultry <10 <2 Milk <0.5 <0.5 Fish <5 <3 Dairy products <5 <5 Oils and fats <0.5 <1 Nuts <2 <5
Food Groups in which PFOS/PFOA undetected (LOD in μg/kg)
Food Groups in which PFOS/PFOA detected (μg/kg)
Syrups/honey – treacle, natural honey, clear honey, golden syrup
Jams – strawberry, blackcurrant, marmalade
Sugar – granulated, caster , cane , molasses
Sugars & preserves
Food group PFOS PFOA Eggs 1 + 0.2 <1 + <0.2Sugars & preserves 1 + 0.2 <1 + <0.2Canned vegetables 2 + 0.4 <5 + <1 Potatoes 10 + 2 1 + 0.2
Potato products – crisps, waffles, Pringles, instant mash, potato flakes, potato salad, frozen chips, oven chips, croquettes, frozen roasts, ready-to-eat mash
Boiled, steamed, baked, microwavedPotatoes – Whites, Estima, Desiree, Nicola baby new, Maris Piper new
Potato group
Estimated Dietary Intake Age group
Estimated average dietary intakes(microgram/kg bodyweight/day)
Upper bound Lower boundPFOS PFOA PFAS PFOS PFOA PFAS
Senior citizens- living at home
0.1 0.05 1.9 0.02 0.001 0.09
Senior citizens- in old peoples' homes
0.1 0.06 2.3 0.02 0.002 0.09
Adults 0.1 0.07 2.5 0.01 0.001 0.1Schoolchildren: 4-6 years 0.3 0.1 5.2 0.05 0.004 0.3 7-10 years 0.2 0.1 4.1 0.04 0.004 0.2 11-14 years 0.1 0.07 2.8 0.03 0.003 0.2 15-18 years 0.1 0.06 2.2 0.02 0.002 0.1Toddlers: 1.5-2.5 years 0.3 0.2 6.1 0.05 0.004 0.3 2.5-3.5 years 0.3 0.1 5.5 0.05 0.004 0.2 3.5-4.5 years 0.2 0.1 5.1 0.05 0.004 0.2
What does it mean?• Assessment by the UK Committee on Toxicity (COT)
published in October 2006
• COT noted the large number of non-detects and high uncertainty over exposure levels
• No immediate toxicological concerns
• But more toxicological and analytical data needed
Key observations (from COT opinions)
• PFOS– most tests on potassium salt– can cross the placenta (reduced foetal weights?)– LD50 in rats ca. 160-370 mg/kg BW– not genotoxic/ no conclusion on carcinogenicity– threshold approach indicated– too much uncertainty for body burden approach– need for further pharmacokinetic studies
• PFOA– most tests on ammonium salt, purity questionable– can cross the placenta– LD50 in rats 430 – 680 mg/kg– possible non-genotoxic carcinogenicity– adverse effects on liver, kidney, haematological and immune
systems– threshold approach indicated
Tolerable Daily Intakes
• PFOS– based on lowest
NOAEL of 0.03mg/kg for decreased serum T3 in monkey:
– TDI 0.3 μg/kg(i.e. just above the
reported upperboundexposure)
• PFOA– based on NOAEL of
0.3mg/kg for adverse effects on various systems and organs:
– TDI 3 μg/kg(i.e. about an order of
magnitude above the reported upperboundexposure)
Next steps ...
• Investigation into levels of PFOS and related compounds in individual foods– Call in RRD22 (July 2006)– Contractors selected– Focus on primary products (environmental
contamination)– ca. 300 samples
• fish, offal, potatoes, root vegetables, dairy products• carcass meat, leafy greens, other foods
– Phased to allow follow-up testing– Results available early 2008
Thank you
www.food.gov.uk
Martin Gem (Food Standards Agency, UK)
Martin Rose, Don Clarke (Central Science Laboratory, UK)
Food Standards Agency
www.food.gov.uk