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

david.mortimer@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

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