Internal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in vegans and omnivores. 2021

Juliane Menzel, and Klaus Abraham, and Stefan Dietrich, and Hermann Fromme, and Wolfgang Völkel, and Tanja Schwerdtle, and Cornelia Weikert
German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Department of Food Safety, 10589, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Juliane.Menzel@bfr.bund.de.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a complex group of anthropogenic compounds with exceptional properties. Due to their high persistence and mobility, they have caused ubiquitous environmental contamination and in part accumulate in the food chain. In the general population, diet is the main source of PFAS exposure, with the important sources fish and meat. As a vegan diet implies the complete exclusion of any animal products, it might be expected that vegans have lower blood levels of PFAS compared to omnivores. Furthermore, lower levels of cholesterol is one of the well-documented nutritional effects in vegans, but cholesterol levels were also found to be associated with higher PFAS levels in epidemiological studies. To examine the relations of internal PFAS levels and the levels of cholesterol in vegans and omnivores, the cross-sectional "Risks and Benefits of a Vegan Diet" (RBVD) study was used involving 36 vegans and 36 omnivores from Berlin/Germany. Nine perfluoroalkyl substances were quantified in plasma using a triple-stage quadrupole mass spectrometer. Lower median plasma concentrations were found in vegans compared to omnivores for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (2.31 vs. 3.57 ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.02) and for perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) (<0.25 vs. 0.41 ng/ml, respectively; p < 0.0001). No significant differences of the median concentrations were observed for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (1.69 vs. 1.44 ng/ml, respectively, p = 0.26) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) (1.96 vs. 1.79 ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.70). The strongest correlations with food groups, derived from a food frequency questionnaire, were observed between levels of PFOA and water consumption (in case of the total study population, n = 72), and between levels of PFOS as well as PFNA and the consumption of 'meat and meat products' (in case of the omnivores, n = 36). Levels of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were confirmed to be considerably lower in vegans compared to omnivores (86.5 vs. 115.5 mg/dl, respectively; p = 0.001), but no associations between the four main PFAS and LDL cholesterol were observed (all p > 0.05) at the low exposure level of this study. According to the results of our study, a vegan diet may be related to lower PFAS levels in plasma. We highlight the importance of the adjustment of dietary factors like a vegan diet in case of epidemiological studies dealing with the impact of PFAS on the levels of blood lipids.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D003430 Cross-Sectional Studies Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time. Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D004785 Environmental Pollutants Substances or energies, for example heat or light, which when introduced into the air, water, or land threaten life or health of individuals or ECOSYSTEMS. Environmental Pollutant,Pollutant,Pollutants,Pollutants, Environmental,Pollutant, Environmental
D005466 Fluorocarbons Liquid perfluorinated carbon compounds which may or may not contain a hetero atom such as nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, but do not contain another halogen or hydrogen atom. This concept includes fluorocarbon emulsions, and fluorocarbon blood substitutes. Perfluorinated and related polyfluorinated chemicals are referred to as PFAS and are defined as chemicals with at least two adjacent carbon atoms, where one carbon is fully fluorinated and the other is at least partially fluorinated. Fluorocarbon,Fluorocarbon Emulsion,Fluorocarbon Emulsions,Fluorotelomer Phosphate Esters,N-Alkyl Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonamido Carboxylates,PFAS Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances,PFC Perfluorinated Chemicals,PFECAs Perfluoropolyether Carboxylic Acids,Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances,Perfluoroalkane Sulfonamides,Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylates,Perfluoroalkyl Ether Carboxylates,Perfluoroalkyl Polyether Carboxylates,Perfluorocarbon,Perfluorocarbons,Perfluoropolyether Carboxylic Acids,Polyfluorocarbons,Fluorinated Telomer Alcohols,Fluoro-Telomer Alcohols,Polyfluorinated Telomer Alcohols,Telomer Fluorocarbons,Acids, Perfluoropolyether Carboxylic,Alcohols, Fluorinated Telomer,Alcohols, Fluoro-Telomer,Alcohols, Polyfluorinated Telomer,Carboxylates, Perfluoroalkyl,Carboxylates, Perfluoroalkyl Ether,Carboxylates, Perfluoroalkyl Polyether,Carboxylic Acids, Perfluoropolyether,Chemicals, PFC Perfluorinated,Emulsion, Fluorocarbon,Emulsions, Fluorocarbon,Esters, Fluorotelomer Phosphate,Ether Carboxylates, Perfluoroalkyl,Fluoro Telomer Alcohols,Fluorocarbons, Telomer,N Alkyl Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonamido Carboxylates,PFAS Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances,Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances,Perfluorinated Chemicals, PFC,Phosphate Esters, Fluorotelomer,Polyether Carboxylates, Perfluoroalkyl,Sulfonamides, Perfluoroalkane,Telomer Alcohols, Fluorinated,Telomer Alcohols, Polyfluorinated
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000066989 Vegans Persons who avoid consuming animal products or animal-derived substances, such as MEAT; EGGS; or HONEY. Some vegans also refrain from using animals or animal products in any form or for any purpose, such as in CLOTHING or household goods. Vegan
D000067269 Diet, Vegan Dietary practice of avoiding animal products in any form. Vegan Diet,Veganism,Diets, Vegan,Vegan Diets
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017738 Alkanesulfonic Acids Sulfonic acid derivatives that are substituted with an aliphatic hydrocarbon group. Acids, Alkanesulfonic

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