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Developmental Toxicity of Perfluoroalkyl Acid Mixtures in CD-1 Mice
Citation:
TATUM, K. R., K. DAS, B. D. ABBOTT, AND C. LAU. Developmental Toxicity of Perfluoroalkyl Acid Mixtures in CD-1 Mice. Presented at Society of Toxicology, Salt Lake City, UT, March 07 - 11, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
The current study examines the developmental effects of various mixtures of PFAAs and makes comparisons to exposures to individual compounds.
Description:
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) belong to a family of fluoro-organic compounds known as perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). PFAAs have been widely used in industrial and commercial applications, and have been found to be both ubiquitous and highly persistent in the environment. Previous studies have indicated robust developmental toxicity associated with exposure to PFOS, PFOA, and PFNA individually in laboratory rodent models. However, multiple PFAAs are present in the environment and detectable to varying extent in humans. Hence, effects of these chemicals in mixtures must be taken into consideration for their health risk assessment. The current study examines the developmental effects of various mixtures of PFAAs and makes comparisons to exposures to individual compounds. Timed-pregnant CD-l mice were given PFAAs either alone (8 mg PFOA/kg, 12 mg PFOS/kg, 4 mg PFNA/kg) or in mixtures (4 mg PFOA/kg + 2 mg PFNA/kg; 4 mg PFOA/kg + 6 mg PFOS/kg; or 6 mg PFOS/kg + 2 mg PFNA/kg) by oral gavage daily from gestation day 1-17; controls received 0.5 % Tween vehicle. PFOS, PFOA and PFNA singly produced developmental effects as previously reported. In mixtures, PFAAs appeared to have a dose additive effect on maternal weight gain, pup body weight, as well as maternal and neonatal liver weights. In contrast, PFAAs in mixtures induced a less-than-dose additive effect on neonatal mortality. In particular, the PFOS + PFOA group responded less than PFOS or PFOA alone, where as PFOS + PFNA had no response at all. These data suggest that prenatal exposure to a mixture scheme of PFAAs with higher carbon-chain length (C-8 and C-9) containing either a carboxylic or sulfonic functional group produce additive effects on some endpoints and less-than-additive effects on neonatal mortality in CD-l mice. This abstract does not necessarily reflect U.S. EPA policy.