Measurement of Novel, Drinking Water-Associated PFAS in Blood from Adults and Children in Wilmington, North Carolina
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BACKGROUND: From 1980 to 2017, a fluorochemical manufacturing facility discharged wastewater containing poorly understood per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Cape Fear River, the primary drinking water source for Wilmington, North Carolina, residents. Those PFAS included several fluoroethers including HFPO-DA also known as GenX. Little is known about the bioaccumulation potential of these fluoroethers. OBJECTIVE: We determined levels of fluoroethers and legacy PFAS in serum samples from Wilmington residents. METHODS: of age into the GenX Exposure Study and collected blood samples. Repeated blood samples were collected from 44 participants 6 months after enrollment. We analyzed serum for 10 fluoroethers and 10 legacy PFAS using liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry. RESULTS: ). CONCLUSION: Poorly understood fluoroethers released into the Cape Fear River by a fluorochemical manufacturing facility were detected in blood samples from Wilmington, North Carolina, residents. Health implications of exposure to these novel PFAS have not been well characterized. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6837.
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To date, the investigation of alternative PFAS compounds within human blood has been limited; few studies have either failed to detect their presence or have identified minimal levels.
“To date, the investigation of alternative PFAS compounds within human blood has been limited. Few studies have either failed to detect their presence or have identified minimal levels [13,14,15].”
From The EU’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Ban: A Case of Policy over Science (2023) · cites this paper as [15]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says these were, to the authors’ knowledge, the first human measurements of five fluoroethers, supporting the claim that investigation of some alternative PFAS in blood was limited. The Results (page unavailable) report nondetection of GenX and of fluoroethers in a small comparison group, but do not establish that the few prior studies generally found nondetection or minimal levels. In the Wilmington cohort, two fluoroethers were detected in almost all participants. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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References 55 · Cited by 261
- Authors
- Kotlarz, N., McCord, J., Collier, D., Lea, C. S., Strynar, M., Lindstrom, A. B., Wilkie, A. A., Islam, J. Y., Matney, K., Tarte, P., Polera, M. E., Burdette, K., DeWitt, J., May, K., Smart, R. C., Knappe, D. R. U., & Hoppin, J. A.
- Affiliations
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Environmental Protection Agency (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- New Hanover County Health Department, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
- Cape Fear River Watch, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
- Corresponding author
- Hoppin, Jane A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2020-07
- Volume
- 128
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 77005-77005
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC7375159
- OpenAlex
- W3044043940
- Cited by
- 261
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 61 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 11.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21ES029353, T32ES007018, P30ES025128)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD067683, R21HD060229)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fluoride Effects and Removal
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Chemical Analysis and Environmental Impact
- Keywords
- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, GenX, HFPO-DA, legacy PFAS, serum PFAS levels, bioaccumulation, drinking water contamination, Cape Fear River, Wilmington, North Carolina, children and adults, repeated blood sampling
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Caprylates, Child, Environmental Exposure, Female, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Male, North Carolina, Nutrition Surveys, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Rivers, Drinking Water
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