Serum concentrations of perfluorinated alkyl substances in farmers living in areas affected by water contamination in the Veneto Region (Northern Italy)

Abstract Human exposure to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) is a major public health concern because in the last decades several cases of overexposure of people to PFASs, in particular through contaminated water, occurred worldwide. In 2013–2017 a PFAS drinking water contamination was discovered and investigated in northern Italy (Veneto region) and high PFAS serum levels were detected in exposed people. 629 subjects were enrolled: 257 residing in municipalities in the areas under impact, 250 residing in municipalities in areas at presumed background exposure and 122 farmers living in contaminated rural areas producing and consuming own livestock and vegetables and frequently using well water. The highest PFAS serum concentrations (median PFOA concentrations 40 ng/g) were found in the subgroup of farmers. The main factors influencing PFAS serum levels of farmers were residence area and the related extent of drinking water contamination, gender, years of residence in the municipalities, well water consumption and consumption of own produced food. PFOA serum concentrations in farmers residing in the areas of the Veneto region impacted by PFAS contamination are among the highest found worldwide

A Simple and Rapid Method for Quantitative HPLC MS/MS Determination of Selected Perfluorocarboxylic Acids and Perfluorosulfonates in Human Serum

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, present in the environment and in the human body. They have raised global concern because of their diffusion in the environment, particularly in water, causing cases of human overexposure due to consumption of contaminated drinking water. Human biomonitoring is the most effective way to characterize human exposure to PFASs, and it is important that as many labs as possible could easily perform this kind of analysis. Analytical methods for quantitation of PFAS mixtures in human serum have been developed, but most of them required materials that are not always easily available in all the laboratories. This paper describes a very simple and accessible HPLC MS/MS method of analysis and quantification of 13 perfluorocarboxylic acids and perfluorosulfonate compounds (belonging to the class of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs)) in human serum. Method development data provide detailed descriptions of the optimization process in terms of sample preparation, laboratory analysis of human serum samples, determination of analytes by HPLC MS/MS, and describing the pump gradient time, working conditions, and acquisition

Exposure to polychlorinated dibenzo-<i>p</i>-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) through the consumption of prepared meals in Italy

<div><p>Diet is a relevant source of exposure to environmental pollutants. Dietary intake of polychlorinated dibenzo-<i>p</i>-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) by the Italian population was assessed through a duplicate diet study on prepared meals. Baby food composite representative of the diet of toddlers aged 9–12 months and school canteen servings from four towns in Italy representing the diet of children aged 4–9 years were collected on a 5-day basis. Similarly, 5-day lunches from an office canteen, 7-day lunches from a hotel-school, three fast food meals, and eight duplicate 1-day meals of individuals (one vegetarian) were selected to represent the diet of adults aged above 18 years. Servings from each diet were then pooled to form a composite and analysed. Dietary intake was estimated from the resulting contaminant levels in composites combined with age-related food consumption data from national survey. The mean upper bound (UB) intakes for cumulative PCDDs, PCDFs, and DL-PCBs were 0.67, 0.63–0.92, and 0.27–0.63 pg WHO₂₀₀₅-TE kg⁻¹ body weight (bw) day⁻¹ for toddlers, children and adults, respectively. BDE-47 (UB) ng kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹ estimates were 2.75 in toddlers, 0.08–0.16 in children and 0.03–0.09 in adults. Similarly, for BDE-99 higher UB intakes (ng kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) resulted in toddlers (1.26), than those in children (0.06–0.08) and adults (0.03–0.10), respectively. The above estimates fall below the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) (14 WHO₂₀₀₅-TE kg⁻¹ bw day⁻¹) established by the European Union Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) for PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs. The margin of exposure (MOE = 3) of toddlers to BDE-99 clearly indicates this age group as target for a risk-oriented approach. This study is proposed as a first cost-effective screening in PCDD, PCDF, DL-PCB and PBDE intake assessment, with a focus also on time trends.</p></div

Individual methylmercury intake estimates from local seafood of the Mediterranean Sea, in Italy

A Seafood Frequency Questionnaire (SFQ) broken down in more than 42 items with 8-week coverage was interview-administered to 278 adults aged 19–82 years (167 women, 98 in the reproductive age 19–45 years, and 111 men), resident on the Italian Mediterranean shore and frequent buyer at local fish markets. Methylmercury (MeHg) intake on individual basis was estimated for a selected occurrence equal to the median value + Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) in each seafood species reported (conservative scenario). MeHg occurrence was derived from an extensive seafood database referred to years 2009–2011. Accounting for an average body weight of 62.2 kg, 24.6% of women resulted overexposed with respect to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) for MeHg of 1.3 μg/kg bw, with a mean of 0.92 μg/kg bw. In the vulnerable group aged 19–45 years, 29.6% exceeded the TWI. Rather than the amount of seafood consumed, the seafood choice appears to be the main determinant of the MeHg intake. Risk awareness was reported in the 49% of SFQs. Uncertainties related to such estimates from questionnaires are discussed, in order to give adequate health recommendations without compromising seafood consumption in the Mediterranean region

Mercury occurrence in Italian seafood from the Mediterranean Sea and possible intake scenarios of the Italian coastal population

Mercury (Hg) settlements in the Mediterranean Sea determine a potential toxicological relevance of seafood intakes for coastal populations. To assess this possibility, fish, molluscs, and crustaceans of commercial size of 69 different species were sampled and analyzed for total mercury (HgTOT) from georeferenced areas and evaluated for their compliance with the European Union Maximum Residue Limits of 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg wet weight (ww). Accounting for the weekly estimated seafood intake in the Italian coastal population (mean 469–626 g/person/week) it was then possible to recover threshold contamination values in seafood. Under a Tolerable Weekly Intake of 1.3 μg/kg/bw/week, a threshold seafood contamination &lt;0.10 mg/kg ww has been derived for sensitive groups. A suitable algorithm based on the parallel MeHg and HgTOT analysis on the most consumed species, helped to refine the uncertainties related to the conservative assumption in seafood all the HgTOT present is in form of MeHg. This work aims to improve the link between the risk management and risk assessment strategies, with the identification of those fish and seafood species, that, when regularly consumed, could determine or prevent potential HgTOT/MeHg overintakes in sensitive groups

Persistent environmental contaminants in human milk: Concentrations and time trends in Italy

Breast milk monitoring studies of persistent and toxic environmental contaminants are of primary importance for carrying out an adequate risk assessment at the actual levels of human exposure and represent a major source of information on infant perinatal exposure. Milk specimens from mothers of the general population of the Venice and Rome areas were collected over the 1998-2001 period, pooled, and analyzed for selected persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorodibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), organochlorinated pesticides (p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, hexachlorobenzene), and polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and the heavy metals Cd, Co, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Sn, and Zn. The goal was to verify whether mother milk from the Venice area, whose lagoon is partly under direct industrial impact, had a contaminant load greater than that from the Rome area, primarily urban. For mothers from the Venice area, the correlation between fish and fishery product consumption and contaminant concentrations in milk was also explored, with however inconclusive results. The concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, dioxin-like PCBs, and organochlorinated pesticides determined in this study were compared with those available from a previous analytical work carried out on 1987 human milk pools of domestic origin: the declining trend of the aforesaid contaminants in milk is confirmed to be in agreement with what was observed in other European countries. The breast milk content of (137)Cs and (40)K radionuclides was also determined and compared with data obtained in other research programmes carried out in Italy: the health risk for breastfed infants was deemed to be not significant

Metals in Mediterranean aquatic species

Metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), have been determined in species of Mediterranean marine organisms collected from areas supposed to be at background contamination levels. The Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) approach was adopted for the determination of all the metals. Arsenic, Cd and Pb determined in the 42 samples, do not exceed the pertinent maximum level except a sample of hake. In wild fish, the concentration range for Cr, Ni, V and Cu was, respectively: 0.07–0.09, 87.6–124, 0.022–0.075 and 0.79–1.74 lg/g fresh weight (fw). The farmed fish samples show concentration levels below the wild fish ones, except for Cr which range at the same levels. Cadmium and Pb show a high sample number under the quantification limit. The elements do not bio-magnify among the species considered and appear to show low variations in relation to organisms’ position in the food chain and at sampling sites

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in milk from Italian women living in Rome and Venice

The levels of selected polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in human milk samples from the areas of Venice and Rome, primarily in order to characterize the current levels of infant exposure to PCBs and PBDEs due to breast feeding in Italy. Sixteen non-dioxin-like PCBs, including the traditional indicator congeners, and 11 PBDEs, comprising the relevant PBDE-47, PBDE-99, and PBDE-153, were determined. Congeners were selected for analysis according to their relative abundance in human tissues, toxicological relevance, and diffusion in the environment. Dietary habits of the milk donors were recorded by questionnaires; mothers of the Venice area were classified into three groups according to their consumption of local fish, molluscs, and other fishery products. Sigma(16)(PCBs) and Sigma(11)(PBDEs) (ng g(-1) fat) for the areas of Venice and Rome were respectively, 250-390 and 240, and 1.6-2.8 and 4.1. An increase of fish and fishery product consumption could not be associated with an increase of PCB and PBDE levels in milk