Human exposure to fluorotelomer alcohols, perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate via house dust in Bavaria, Germany Zhenlan Xu a, b , Stefan Fiedler a , Gerd Pfister a , Bernhard Henkelmann a , Christine Mosch c , Wolfgang Völkel c , Hermann Fromme c , Karl-Werner Schramm a, b, ⁎ a Helmholtz Center Munich — National Research Center for Environmental Health, Molecular EXposomics (MEX), Ingolstädter Landstr.1, Neuherberg 85764, Germany b TUM, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung und Landnutzung, Department für Biowissenschaften, Weihenstephaner Steig 23, 85350 Freising, Germany c Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Department of Chemical Safety and Toxicology, Pfarrstr. 3, Munich 80538, Germany HIGHLIGHTS ► PFOA (6.1–676 ng/g) was the domi- nant compound, followed by PFOS (3.3–1046 ng/g). ► The mean concentrations of 6:2, 8:2 and 10:2 FTOH were 19.4, 29.5 and 17.5 ng/g. ► Intakes of FTOHs, PFOA and PFOS via indoor dust ingestion were estimated. ► PFC intake was low, and only under a worst scenario it was high for toddlers. ► The contribution of 8:2 FTOH to PFOA intake via dust ingestion was low. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 28 August 2012 Received in revised form 19 October 2012 Accepted 23 October 2012 Available online 4 December 2012 Keywords: Fluorotelomer alcohols Perfluorooctane sulfonate Perfluorooctanoate House dust Human exposure This study aimed at investigating the presence and distribution of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in house dust to evaluate human exposure to these compounds via dust ingestion. 31 house dust samples were collected from Bavaria, Germany and ana- lyzed for 4:2, 6:2, 8:2 and 10:2 FTOH, PFOS and PFOA. PFOA was the dominant compound in 79% of the dust sam- ples, followed by PFOS and 8:2 FTOH, while 4:2 FTOH was not detected in any samples. The total concentration of per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) varied from 32.2 to 2456 ng/g. In addition, the total ingestion rate for PFCs was 0.4–135 ng/d for adults and 5.1–246 ng/d for toddlers, and the highest 8:2 FTOH-based PFOA intake via indoor dust was 0.24 ng/d for adults and 0.44 ng/d for toddlers. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate that dust ingestion is a minor pathway for human exposure to these PFCs; the PFC ingestion via indoor dust is generally low, and only under a worst scenario high intakes have to be expected for toddlers. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs) and perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) are of concern to the environment due to their extreme persistence (Kissa, 2001) and potential to accumulate in biota (Butt et al., 2010). In particular, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), homologues of PFSAs and PFCAs, are Science of the Total Environment 443 (2013) 485–490 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Group of Molecular EXposomics, Helmholtz Center Munich — National Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 31873147; fax: +49 89 31873371. E-mail address: schramm@helmholtz-muenchen.de (K.-W. Schramm). 0048-9697/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.10.089 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv