• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.5.1-5.14
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• 2023

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals widely used in various products in everyday life. Due to its unique strong binding force, the half-life of PFAS is very long, so bioaccumulation and toxicity to the human body are long-standing concerns. In particular, effects on kidney function have recently emerged and there are no studies on the effect of PFAS on kidney function through epidemiological investigations in Korea. From 2018 to 2020, the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) cycle 4, conducted an epidemiological investigation on the blood concentration of PFAS for the first time in Korea. Based on this data, the relationship between PFAS blood concentration and kidney function was analyzed for adolescents. Methods: We investigated 5 types of PFAS and their total blood concentration in 811 middle and high school students, living in Korea and included in KoNEHS cycle 4, and tried to find changes in kidney function in relation to PFAS concentration. After dividing the concentration of each of the 5 PFAS and the total concentration into quartiles, multivariable linear regression was performed to assess the correlation with kidney function. The bedside Schwartz equation was used as an indicator of kidney function. Results: As a result of multivariable linear regression, when observing a change in kidney function according to the increase in the concentration of each of the 5 PFAS and their total, a significant decrease in kidney function was confirmed in some or all quartiles. Conclusions: In this cross-sectional study of Korean adolescents based on KoNEHS data, a negative correlation between serum PFAS concentration and kidney function was found. A well-designed longitudinal study and continuous follow-up are necessary.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.514-523
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• 2022

Concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were measured in seawater, sediment, and biota collected from Gunsan coast, Korea to investigate their occurrence, distribution, and risk of exposure to humans through seafood consumption. The total concentrations of PFASs in seawater, sediment, and biota ranged from 5.97 to 74.9 ng/L, 0.01 to 13.3 ng/g dry weight, and 0.02 to 5.73 ng/g wet weight, respectively. Predominant PFAS compounds differed across matrices, indicating that the distribution of PFASs in multiple environmental samples is governed by their carbon-chain length. The concentrations of PFASs in seawater were significantly negatively correlated with salinity (P<0.01), suggesting terrestrial input (including land-used PFASs) as the major source of PFAS contamination in coastal environments. The estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) through seafood consumption were 0.05 and 0.06 ng/kg body weight/day, respectively. The EDIs of PFOA and PFOS measured in this study were lower those the proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Canada guidelines, indicating limited health risk for Korean population from PFASs through consumption of seafood from Gunsan coastal environment.