INTRODUCTION: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a current focus of biomonitoring studies in populations around the world. Since 2002, de-identified surplus pathology serum samples have been collected from the general Australian population and pooled bi-annually as part of the Australian Human Biomonitoring (HBM) project. These samples are used to monitor background exposures to persistent chemicals, such as PFAS. In addition to background exposures, it is known that various “PFAS Hotspots” of environmental contamination exist in Australia but the amount of human exposure to PFAS at these hotspots is unknown.
AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine if targeted pooling can be used to establish population level exposure and use this technique to investigate if elevated PFAS exposure has occurred in in populations from ‘PFAS Hotspots’ in Australia.
METHODS: Three sites (‘PFAS Hotspots’) were selected based on prior knowledge that elevated PFAS have been identified in environmental samples, or that PFAS containing firefighting foam had been used in the area. None of these sites had any prior data on population PFAS exposure. In collaboration with Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, de-identified surplus pathology serum samples were obtained from postcodes in close proximity to the ‘PFAS Hotspots’. Samples were pooled and analyzed for PFAS. To assess if elevated exposure to PFAS had occurred at these sites, comparisons were made with the Australian background HBM.
RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Compared to pools collected as part of the background HBM project, higher serum concentrations of selected PFAS were measured in pools collected from the ‘PFAS Hotspots’ assessed in this study. These findings suggest that individuals from these sites have experienced elevated exposure to PFAS. This study demonstrates that serum pooling can be an effective tool for determining exposure to persistent chemicals in communities at risk.