Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are known as ‘forever chemical’, commonly used in commercial and daily-life products. Due to their special physico-chemical characteristics, PFASs have been found in various environmental matrices, and can be exposed to organisms and humans. The present re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yifei Cao, Yuru Huang, Ying Ma, Jun Nie, Chao Hu, Yingshu Chen, Juntao Xu, Liping Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Communications
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/add0fa
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849728554413064192
author Yifei Cao
Yuru Huang
Ying Ma
Jun Nie
Chao Hu
Yingshu Chen
Juntao Xu
Liping Lu
author_facet Yifei Cao
Yuru Huang
Ying Ma
Jun Nie
Chao Hu
Yingshu Chen
Juntao Xu
Liping Lu
author_sort Yifei Cao
collection DOAJ
description Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are known as ‘forever chemical’, commonly used in commercial and daily-life products. Due to their special physico-chemical characteristics, PFASs have been found in various environmental matrices, and can be exposed to organisms and humans. The present review outlines the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of PFASs in the environment, human exposure routes, biomonitoring data, and metabolic mechanism. Diet is considered to be the main route of PFASs exposure, and these compounds enter the human body through accumulation in the food chain, particularly through biomagnification by aquatic organisms. Detection of different PFASs has been reported in human samples including urine, blood, serum, breast milk, hair, and nails, among which perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) are most frequently identified in serum and short-chain PFASs are frequently detected in urine. After entering into human body, particular biotransformation pathways of PFASs in mammals are primarily through hydroxylation, carboxylation, and enzymatic conversion. PFASs can affect metabolism by increasing inflammation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling. Long-chain PFASs may cause stronger immunosuppressive effects and higher bioaccumulation potential than short-chain PFASs. PFASs and their metabolites induce similar or even more toxic effects by activating the same signaling associated with endogenous metabolism, thereby affecting lipid metabolism and leading to metabolic disorders and related diseases. This review may contribute to the human exposure risk of PFASs, especially from the respective of human exposure level and metabolic transformation.
format Article
id doaj-art-7ef7d6234d774924a1981c8680e9a4a9
institution DOAJ
issn 2515-7620
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
record_format Article
series Environmental Research Communications
spelling doaj-art-7ef7d6234d774924a1981c8680e9a4a92025-08-20T03:09:31ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202025-01-017505200110.1088/2515-7620/add0faEnvironmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a reviewYifei Cao0Yuru Huang1Ying Ma2Jun Nie3Chao Hu4Yingshu Chen5Juntao Xu6https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2618-0473Liping Lu7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6990-3142School of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are known as ‘forever chemical’, commonly used in commercial and daily-life products. Due to their special physico-chemical characteristics, PFASs have been found in various environmental matrices, and can be exposed to organisms and humans. The present review outlines the current state of knowledge on the occurrence of PFASs in the environment, human exposure routes, biomonitoring data, and metabolic mechanism. Diet is considered to be the main route of PFASs exposure, and these compounds enter the human body through accumulation in the food chain, particularly through biomagnification by aquatic organisms. Detection of different PFASs has been reported in human samples including urine, blood, serum, breast milk, hair, and nails, among which perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) are most frequently identified in serum and short-chain PFASs are frequently detected in urine. After entering into human body, particular biotransformation pathways of PFASs in mammals are primarily through hydroxylation, carboxylation, and enzymatic conversion. PFASs can affect metabolism by increasing inflammation, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling. Long-chain PFASs may cause stronger immunosuppressive effects and higher bioaccumulation potential than short-chain PFASs. PFASs and their metabolites induce similar or even more toxic effects by activating the same signaling associated with endogenous metabolism, thereby affecting lipid metabolism and leading to metabolic disorders and related diseases. This review may contribute to the human exposure risk of PFASs, especially from the respective of human exposure level and metabolic transformation.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/add0faper- and polyfluoroalkyl substancesenvironmental residueshuman exposurebiotransformation
spellingShingle Yifei Cao
Yuru Huang
Ying Ma
Jun Nie
Chao Hu
Yingshu Chen
Juntao Xu
Liping Lu
Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
Environmental Research Communications
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
environmental residues
human exposure
biotransformation
title Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
title_full Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
title_fullStr Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
title_full_unstemmed Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
title_short Environmental occurance, human exposure, and metabolism of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—a review
title_sort environmental occurance human exposure and metabolism of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances a review
topic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
environmental residues
human exposure
biotransformation
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/add0fa
work_keys_str_mv AT yifeicao environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT yuruhuang environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT yingma environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT junnie environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT chaohu environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT yingshuchen environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT juntaoxu environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview
AT lipinglu environmentaloccurancehumanexposureandmetabolismofperandpolyfluoroalkylsubstancesareview