Airborne precursors predict maternal serum perfluoroalkyl acid concentrations
Abstract
Human exposure to persistent perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), can occur directly from contaminated food, water, air, and dust. However, precursors to PFAAs (PreFAAs), such as dipolyfluoroalkyl phosphates (diPAPs), fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), perfluorooctyl sulfonamides (FOSAs), and sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs), which can be biotransformed to PFAAs, may also be a source of exposure. PFAAs were analyzed in 50 maternal sera samples collected in 2007-2008 from participants in Vancouver, Canada, while PFAAs and PreFAAs were measured in matching samples of residential bedroom air collected by passive sampler and in sieved vacuum dust (<150 μm). Concentrations of PreFAAs were higher than for PFAAs in air and dust. Positive associations were discovered between airborne 10:2 FTOH and serum PFOA and PFNA and between airborne MeFOSE and serum PFOS. On average, serum PFOS concentrations were 2.3 ng/mL (95%CI: 0.40, 4.3) higher in participants with airborne MeFOSE concentrations in the highest tertile relative to the lowest tertile. Among all PFAAs, only PFNA in air and vacuum dust predicted serum PFNA. Results suggest that airborne PFAA precursors were a source of PFOA, PFNA, and PFOS exposure in this population.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Dust samples often show high PFAS levels, including polyfluorinated phosphate esters.
“Dust samples often show high PFAS levels, including polyfluorinated phosphate esters [182].”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [182]
Cites
Fluorinated Surfactants and Repellents
(2001) · Textile Research Journal · doi:10.1177/004051750107100823 · Cited by 1,376 · see citing works
Calafat, A. M., Wong, L.-Y., Kuklenyik, Z., Reidy, J. A., & Needham, L. L. (2007) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.10598 · Cited by 1,247 · see citing works
Perfluorinated compounds – Exposure assessment for the general population in western countries
Fromme, H., Tittlemier, S. A., Völkel, W., Wilhelm, M., & Twardella, D. (2008) · International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2008.04.007 · Cited by 963 · see citing works
Trends in Exposure to Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals in the U.S. Population: 1999−2008
Kato, K., Wong, L.-Y., Jia, L. T., Kuklenyik, Z., & Calafat, A. M. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es1043613 · Cited by 777 · see citing works
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in consumer products
Kotthoff, M., Müller, J., Jürling, H., Schlummer, M., & Fiedler, D. (2015) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-015-4202-7 · Cited by 613 · see citing works
Subchronic Toxicity Studies on Perfluorooctanesulfonate Potassium Salt in Cynomolgus Monkeys
Seacat, A. M. (2002) · Toxicological Sciences · doi:10.1093/toxsci/68.1.249 · Cited by 564 · see citing works
Fluorotelomer alcohol biodegradation yields poly-and perfluorinated acids
Dinglasan, M. J. A., Ye, Y., Edwards, E. A., & Mabury, S. A. (2004) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es0350177 · Cited by 554 · see citing works
Estimating Consumer Exposure to PFOS and PFOA
Trudel, D., Horowitz, L., Wormuth, M., Scheringer, M., Cousins, I. T., & Hungerbühler, K. (2008) · Risk Analysis · doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01017.x · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Tittlemier, S. A., Pepper, K., Seymour, C., Moisey, J., Bronson, R., Cao, X., & Dabeka, R. W. (2007) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · doi:10.1021/jf0634045 · Cited by 437 · see citing works
Haug, L. S., Huber, S., Becher, G., & Thomsen, C. (2011) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2011.01.011 · Cited by 417 · see citing works
Shoeib, M., Harner, T., Ikonomou, M. G., & Kannan, K. (2004) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es0305555 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Self-citationBiotransformation pathways of fluorotelomer-based polyfluoroalkyl substances: A review
Butt, C. M., Muir, D. C. G., & Mabury, S. A. (2013) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.2407 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Martin, J. W., Asher, B. J., Beesoon, S., Benskin, J. P., & Ross, M. S. (2010) · Journal of Environmental Monitoring · doi:10.1039/c0em00295j · Cited by 311 · see citing works
Self-citationSerum levels of perfluoroalkyl compounds in human maternal and umbilical cord blood samples.
Monroy, R., Morrison, K., Teo, K., Atkinson, S., Kubwabo, C., Stewart, B., & Foster, W. (2008) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2008.06.001 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
Harrad, S. J., de Wit, C. A., Abdallah, M. A., den bergh, C. V., Björklund, J. A., Covaci, A., Darnerud, P. O., de Boer, J., Diamond, M. L., Huber, S., et al. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es903476t · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Self-citationBiodegradation of Polyfluoroalkyl Phosphates as a Source of Perfluorinated Acids to the Environment
Lee, H., D’eon, J., & Mabury, S. A. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es9028183 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Hoffman, K., Webster, T. F., Weisskopf, M. G., Weinberg, J., & Vieira, V. M. (2010) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1001898 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Self-citationD’eon, J. C., & Mabury, S. A. (2007) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es070126x · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Landfill Leachate: Patterns, Time Trends, and Sources
Benskin, J. P., Li, B., Ikonomou, M. G., Grace, J. R., & Li, L. Y. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es302471n · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Metabolic products and pathways of fluorotelomer alcohols in isolated rat hepatocytes
Martin, J. W., Mabury, S. A., & O’Brien, P. J. (2005) · Chemico-Biological Interactions · doi:10.1016/j.cbi.2005.06.007 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Self-citationShoeib, M., Harner, T., M. Webster, G., & Lee, S. C. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es103562v · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Self-citationTomy, G. T., Tittlemier, S. A., Palace, V. P., Budakowski, W. R., Braekevelt, E., Brinkworth, L., & Friesen, K. J. (2003) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es034550j · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Cousins, I. T., Vestergren, R., Wang, Z., Scheringer, M., & McLachlan, M. S. (2016) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2016.04.044 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Temporal Trends of Perfluoroalkyl Concentrations in American Red Cross Adult Blood Donors, 2000–2010
Olsen, G. W., Lange, C. C., Ellefson, M. E., Mair, D. C., Church, T. R., Goldberg, C. L., Herron, R., Medhdizadehkashi, Z., Nobiletti, J. B., Rios, J. A., et al. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es300604p · Cited by 221 · see citing works
D’eon, J. C., Crozier, P. W., Furdui, V. I., Reiner, E. J., Libelo, E. L., & Mabury, S. A. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es900100d · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Xu, L. S., Krenitsky, D. M., Seacat, A. M., Butenhoff, J. L., & Anders, M. W. (2004) · Chemical Research in Toxicology · doi:10.1021/tx034222x · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Estimating the contribution of precursor compounds in consumer exposure to PFOS and PFOA
Vestergren, R., Cousins, I. T., Trudel, D., Wormuth, M., & Scheringer, M. (2008) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.08.011 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
D’eon, J. C., & Mabury, S. A. (2011) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1002409 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Perfluorinated chemicals in relation to other persistent organic pollutants in human blood
Kärrman, A., van Bavel, B., Järnberg, U., Hardell, L., & Lindström, G. (2006) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.11.040 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Beesoon, S., Webster, G. M., Shoeib, M., Harner, T., Benskin, J. P., & Martin, J. W. (2011) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1003265 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Self-citationKato, K., Wong, L.-Y., Chen, A., Dunbar, C. A., Webster, G. M., Lanphear, B. P., & Calafat, A. M. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es501811k · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Self-citationArmitage, J. M., Schenker, U., Scheringer, M., Martin, J. W., MacLeod, M., & Cousins, I. T. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es901448p · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Self-citationSagiv, S. K., Rifas‐Shiman, S. L., Webster, T. F., Mora, A. M., Harris, M. H., Calafat, A. M., Ye, X., Gillman, M. W., & Oken, E. (2015) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b02489 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Self-citationFraser, A. J., Webster, T. F., Watkins, D. J., Strynar, M. J., Kato, K., Calafat, A. M., Vieira, V. M., & McClean, M. D. (2013) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.08.012 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Self-citationEriksson, U., & Kärrman, A. (2015) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b00679 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Mondal, D., Weldon, R. H., Armstrong, B., Gibson, L. J., López-Espinosa, M.-J., Shin, H., & Fletcher, T. (2013) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1306613 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
De Silva, A. O., Allard, C. N., Spencer, C., Webster, G. M., & Shoeib, M. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es303172p · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Self-citationWebster, G. M., Venners, S. A., Mattman, A., & Martin, J. W. (2014) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.06.012 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Self-citationGebbink, W. A., Berger, U., & Cousins, I. T. (2014) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2014.10.013 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Polyfluorinated Compounds in Serum Linked to Indoor Air in Office Environments
Fraser, A. J., Webster, T. F., Watkins, D. J., Nelson, J. W., Stapleton, H. M., Calafat, A. M., Kato, K., Shoeib, M., Vieira, V. M., & McClean, M. D. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es2038257 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Self-citationCumulative Chemical Exposures During Pregnancy and Early Development
Mitro, S. D., Johnson, T., & Zota, A. R. (2015) · Current Environmental Health Reports · doi:10.1007/s40572-015-0064-x · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Time–activity patterns of pregnant women and changes during the course of pregnancy
Nethery, E., Brauer, M. D., & Janssen, P. (2008) · Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology · doi:10.1038/jes.2008.24 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Yeung, L. W. Y., Robinson, S., Koschorreck, J., & Mabury, S. A. (2013) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es303716k · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Dassuncao, C., Hu, X. C., Nielsen, F., Weihe, P., Grandjean, P., & Sunderland, E. M. (2018) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b06044 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
de Cock, M., de Boer, M. R., Lamoree, M. H., Legler, J., & van de Bor, M. (2014) · Environmental Health · doi:10.1186/1476-069x-13-106 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Yeung, L. W. Y., Robinson, S. J., Koschorreck, J., & Mabury, S. A. (2013) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es4004153 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Perfluoroalkyl Acids in Maternal Serum and Indices of Fetal Growth: The Aarhus Birth Cohort
Bach, C. C., Bech, B. H., Nohr, E. A., Olsen, J., Matthiesen, N. B., Bonefeld‐Jørgensen, E. C., Bossi, R., & Henriksen, T. B. (2015) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1510046 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Structural equation modeling of immunotoxicity associated with exposure to perfluorinated alkylates
Mogensen, U. B., Grandjean, P., Heilmann, C. J., Nielsen, F., Weihe, P., & Budtz–Jørgensen, E. (2015) · Environmental Health · doi:10.1186/s12940-015-0032-9 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Per- and polyfluorinated compounds in house dust and indoor air from northern Norway – A pilot study
Huber, S., Haug, L. S., & Schlabach, M. (2011) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.04.075 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Perfluoroalkyl substances and thyroid function in older adults
Shrestha, S., Bloom, M. S., Yucel, R., Seegal, R. F., Wu, Q., Kannan, K., Rej, R., & Fitzgerald, E. F. (2015) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2014.11.018 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Perfluoroalkyl chemicals in vacuum cleaner dust from 39 Wisconsin homes
Knobeloch, L., Imm, P., & Anderson, H. A. (2012) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.03.082 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Dagnino, S., Strynar, M. J., McMahen, R. L., Lau, C. S., Ball, C. H., Garantziotis, S., Webster, T. F., McClean, M. D., & Lindstrom, A. B. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b01170 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationDonauer, S., Chen, A., Xu, Y. Y., Calafat, A. M., Sjödin, A., & Yolton, K. A. (2014) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.11.021 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Webster, G. M., Teschke, K., & Janssen, P. A. (2011) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-010-0739-8 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citation90-Day Oral Gavage Toxicity Study of 8-2 Fluorotelomer Alcohol in Rats
Ladics, G. S., Kennedy, G. L., O’Connor, J. C., Everds, N. E., Malley, L. A., Frame, S. R., Gannon, S. A., Jung, R., Roth, T., Iwai, H., et al. (2008) · Drug and Chemical Toxicology · doi:10.1080/01480540701873103 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Evaluation of the reproductive and developmental toxicity of 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol in rats
O’Connor, J. C., Munley, S. M., Serex, T. L., & Buck, R. C. (2014) · Toxicology · doi:10.1016/j.tox.2014.01.002 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Partitioning of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOH) to semipermeable membrane devices (SPMD)
Fiedler, S., Pfister, G., & Schramm, K. (2009) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-009-0237-y · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
De Silva, A. O., Armitage, J. M., Bruton, T. A., Dassuncao, C., Heiger-Bernays, W., Hu, X. C., Kärrman, A., Kelly, B., Ng, C., Robuck, A., et al. (2020) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.4935 · Cited by 835 · see citing works
Self-citationPoothong, S., Papadopoulou, E., Padilla-Sánchez, J. A., Thomsen, C., & Haug, L. S. (2020) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105244 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Preston, E. V., Webster, T. F., Claus Henn, B., McClean, M. D., Gennings, C., Oken, E., Rifas-Shiman, S. L., Pearce, E. N., Calafat, A. M., Fleisch, A. F., et al. (2020) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105728 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Self-citationDeLuca, N. M., Minucci, J. M., Mullikin, A., Slover, R., & Cohen Hubal, E. A. (2022) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107149 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
D’Ambro, E. L., Pye, H. O. T., Bash, J. O., Bowyer, J., Allen, C., Efstathiou, C., Gilliam, R. C., Reynolds, L., Talgo, K., & Murphy, B. N. (2021) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c06580 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Dassuncao, C., Hu, X. C., Nielsen, F., Weihe, P., Grandjean, P., & Sunderland, E. M. (2018) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b06044 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Minucci, J. M., DeLuca, N. M., Durant, J. T., Goodwin, B., Kowalski, P., Scruton, K., Thomas, K., & Cohen Hubal, E. A. (2024) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2024.108756 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS
Hasan, M., Habib, A., Alam, M., Islam, S., & Halim, E. (2025) · Pollutants · doi:10.3390/pollutants5040043 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“Dust samples often show high PFAS levels, including polyfluorinated phosphate esters [182].”
- Authors
- Makey, C. M., Webster, T. F., Martin, J. W., Shoeib, M., Harner, T., Dix-Cooper, L., & Webster, G. M.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- Environmental Health Services, BC Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4R4, Canada
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Makey, Colleen M.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2017-06-13
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 7667-7675
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2620230902
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (RO1ES016099)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (83564201)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
- Keywords
- perfluoroalkyl acids, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFNA, PFOS, fluorotelomer alcohols, house dust, maternal serum, prenatal exposure, persistent organic pollutants, passive sampling
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Canada, Caprylates, Dust, Environmental Exposure, Female, Fluorocarbons, Housing, Humans, Pregnancy, Alkanesulfonic Acids
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
