Cited by 252Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchToxic Organic Pollutants ImpactIndoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure

Indoor Sources of Poly- and Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCS) in Vancouver, Canada: Implications for Human Exposure

Shoeib, Mahiba, Harner, Tom, M. Webster, Glenys, Lee, Sum Chi·2011·Environmental Science & Technology

Abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are widely detected in human blood and serum and are of concern due to their potential toxicity. This study investigated the indoor sources of these compounds and their neutral precursors through a survey of 152 homes in Vancouver, Canada. Samples were collected of indoor air, outdoor air, indoor dust, and clothes dryer lint and analyzed for neutral [i.e., fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), and perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol (FOSE)] and ionic [i.e., PFOS and perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs)] poly- and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). Indoor air was dominated by 8:2 FTOH with a geometric mean concentration (pg/m(3)) of 2900. Among the FOSAs and FOSEs, MeFOSE exhibited the highest air concentration with a geometric mean of 380 pg/m(3). PFOA was the major ionic PFC and was detected in all indoor air samples with a geometric mean of 28 pg/m(3), whereas PFOS was below the detection limit. The results for the ionic PFCs in indoor air are the first for North America. The pattern of the neutral PFCs in house dust was also dominated by 8:2 FTOH, with a geometric mean of 88 ng/g. Dusts were enriched (relative to air) with sulfonamidoethanol (FOSE) which comprised ∼22% of the total neutral PFC content compared to only ∼3% in air. PFOS and PFOA were the most prominent compounds detected in dust samples. Levels of neutral PFCs in clothes dryer lint were an order of magnitude lower compared to house dust. Human exposure estimates to PFCs for adults and children showed that inhalation was the main exposure route for neutral and ionic PFCs in adults. For toddlers, ingestion of PFCs via dust was more relevant and was on the order of a few mg/day. Results from this study contribute to our understanding of exposure pathways of PFCs to humans. This will facilitate investigations of related health effects and human monitoring data.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1021/es103562v

Cites

43 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

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?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Shoeib, M., Harner, T., M. Webster, G., & Lee, S. C.
Affiliations
  • Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
  • School of Environmental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Corresponding author
Shoeib, Mahiba
Venue
Environmental Science & Technology
Published
2011-02-18
Volume
45
Issue
19
Pages
7999-8005
ISSN
  • 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
  • 1520-5851
OpenAlex
W2055227296
Cited by
252
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 17
FWCI
13.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Health Canada
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
Keywords
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, fluorotelomer alcohols, perfluorooctane sulfonamide, perfluoroalkyl carboxylates, indoor air, house dust, human exposure pathways, inhalation exposure, dietary intake, children's exposure, Vancouver
MeSH terms
Adult, Air, Canada, Child, Preschool, Clothing, Dust, Environmental Exposure, Environmental Monitoring, Female, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Ions, Quality Assurance, Health Care, Quality Control, Air Pollution, Indoor

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