Contamination of country foods by perfluoroalkyl acids in the Arctic

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are synthetic chemicals used in industrial and consumer applications. They are exceptionally stable and highly mobile in the environment, and have been detected in high concentrations in Nunavik Inuit adults. The study’s objectives were to study the associations between dietary profiles in Nunavik and PFAAs concentrations, and the associations between specific foods and PFAAs concentrations. METHODS: The study used data from the Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 Nunavik Inuit Health Survey. Nine PFAAs congeners were measured in plasma samples, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA). Dietary profiles were identified using latent profile analysis. Multiple linear regression models regressed log-transformed PFAAs concentrations against the dietary profiles, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Elastic net was used to look at associations between PFAAs and dietary variables. RESULTS: We identified strong associations between the dietary profile defined by frequent country food consumption and all PFAAs congeners (PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUdA, PFHxS, and PFOS) compared to the dietary profile defined by frequent market food consumption. Individuals with low consumption of all foods also had higher concentrations of all PFAAs congeners compared to individuals with frequent market food consumption. The associations were stronger with profiles defined by more frequent country food consumption, and particularly those with increased marine mammal consumption. Elastic net identified marine mammal products (seal liver, beluga misirak), wild birds (ptarmigan, goose eggs), Arctic char and fish roe as main exposure sources. CONCLUSIONS: Increased country food consumption was strongly associated with higher PFAAs concentrations, particularly PFOS and long-chain PFAAs congeners. The results provide further evidence that Arctic communities are disproportionately impacted by PFAAs, and further national and international regulations are required to protect the exceptional quality of country foods. KEYWORDS: PFAS; exposure; food; Indigenous