Serum Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and Hepatic and Lipid Clinical Chemistry Tests in Fluorochemical Production Employees

The 3M Company manufactures fluorochemicals, which have as a precursor perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (C₈F₁₇SO₂F). These compounds may be expected to transform metabolically, to an undetermined degree, to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS, C₈F₁₇SO₃⁻) as an endstage metabolite, Subchronic studies in rats and primates indicate a potential for cumulative toxicity with PFOS with the primary effect related to metabolic wasting with hypolipidemia as a consistent finding. Biennial medical surveillance has been offered to the company's fluorochemical production workers located in Decatur, Alabama, and Antwerp, Belgium. In 1995, the mean serum PFOS level, as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, for 178 male employees was 2.19 parts per million (ppm; range, 0.00 to 12.83 ppm), and in 1997, for 149 employees, it was 1.75 ppm (0.10 to 9.93 ppm). Our analyses suggest that among these production employees, there were no substantial changes in serum hepatic enzymes, cholesterol, or lipoproteins associated with PFOS levels less than 6 ppm. It was not possible to derive inferences from the few employees who had serum PFOS levels ≥ 6 ppm. These results may be due to the lower levels of serum PFOS measured among these production employees, compared to those suspected to cause effects in laboratory animals.