PFAS, bisphenol, and paraben in Malaysian food and estimated dietary intake

ABSTRACT

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenols, and parabens are used in food packaging or as preservatives and their unintended consumption has been associated with cancer and other diseases. Food EDCs data are scarce in Malaysia. Thus, liquid chromatography mass tandem spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was utilised to analyse 18 EDCs from different food categories. Bisphenol was the most abundant EDC found, followed by PFAS and paraben. Bisphenol levels in canned foods, dairy products, canned drinks, fruits, and vegetables ranged from 1.16 to 183 ng/g. PFAS was found in almost every food category, with canned foods having the highest concentrations (0.18–34.5 ng/g). Only canned foods, fruits, and vegetables contained parabens, with mean concentrations ranging from 0.27 to 26.7 ng/g. PFOS, PFBA, PFHQA and bisphenol A all had hazard quotients (HQ) above 1, indicating that they can pose a risk to human health.

KEYWORDS:

• PFAS
• bisphenol
• paraben
• food
• hazard quotient

Acknowledgments

The research that led to these findings was supported by a RONPAKU Fellowship under the JSPS RONPAKU (Dissertation Ph.D.) Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). We would like to express our gratitude to Universiti Malaysia for providing technical assistance. Each participant’s contribution is acknowledged. Additionally, the authors would like to thank Kyoto University, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) fellows for their assistance with the sampling campaign and data analysis.

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

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Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.