Determination of perfluorooctane sulphonate and perfluorooctanoic acid in seafood and water from Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate area, Thailand

ABSTRACT

This initial study aimed to determine the concentrations of perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in seafood, bottled drinking water, and surface and tap water collected from Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong province, Thailand. Samples were collected during dry (January) and wet (June) seasons, 2019. The perfluorinated compounds were cleaned up by solid phase extraction and analysed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with stable isotopic labelled internal standards (¹³C₈–PFOS and ¹³C₈–PFOA). This study reports concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in seafood at levels between 29–6724 and <48–421 ng/kg wet weight, respectively. Surface water samples from rivers and the coastal sea had PFOS and PFOA between 0.60–465.65 and <0.25–59.29 ng/L, respectively. Contamination of PFOS and PFOA in bottled drinking water (<0.125–0.454 and <0.25–0.621 ng/L, respectively) did not exceed the USEPA standard of 70 ng/L. Concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in seafood and water samples between seasons did not show any definite trend. Seafood dietary assessments of PFOS exposure in the seafood eater population raised a health concern, as the exposure exceeded the latest EFSA tolerable weekly intake value for PFAS mixtures (4.4 ng/kg body weight/week). Therefore, environmental and food samples from Map Ta Phut area should be closely monitored to ensure the safety of people living in and around this area.

KEYWORDS:

• PFOS
• PFOA
• seafood
• drinking water
• surface water
• Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Chulabhorn Royal Academy, Thailand (ET–07). The authors kindly thank Ms. Saichit Thaeopattha for her assistance in LC-MS/MS analysis, Ms. Punthip Teeyapant for comments and critical reading on risk assessment, and Ms. Janice M. Wongsurawat for proofreading the manuscript. We also would like to thank the staff at the Analytical Section, Food and Drug Quality Unit, Chulabhorn Research Institute for their assistance and research facilities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute [ET-07].