Lab Matters Summer 2018 | Page 52

APHL 2018 Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts

Environmental Health

100 – 200 volunteers, between the ages of 20 and 74, from the residents who have lived in the affected communities during past three years. Drinking water and house dust are also measured for 14 PFASs listed in EPA water testing method( Method 537) in first year. Questionnaires are administered to collect information on demographics and potential PFNA sources. The subject recruitment was begun in summer of 2017. To date, 85 subjects were recruited and home visits were made, including questionnaire survey, blood draw and water / dust collection. Among the collected samples, 65 sera, 46 tap waters and 36 house dust samples were analyzed at PHEL in NJDOH. The results showed serum PFNA(( GM [ 95 % CIs ]; 4.10 [ 3.09-5.44 ] ng / mL, n = 65) were higher than a national average( 0.68 [ 0.61-0.74 ], n = 2168) from the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey( NHANES). For drinking water, all samples were lower than reporting limits( 5 ng / L). Some PFASs were detected(> 10 ng / g) in house dust. We will complete the firstyear recruitment and sample analyses by the summer of 2018 and repeat serum analyses for the same subjects at year 2 and 3. The obtained data will be used to evaluate whether the intervention is effective and to identify significant sources of PFNA exposure. This study will demonstrate a biomonitoring study is a useful tool to assess effectiveness of intervention on community exposure to PFAS-contaminated drinking water. In addition, this study approach will provide a foundation for future researches in other PFASaffected communities across the US.

Presenter: Zhihua( Tina) Fan, PhD, New Jersey Department of Health / PHEL / ECLS, Ewing, NJ, Phone: 609.530.2803, Email: tina. fan @ doh. nj. gov

An Assessment of Serum for Six Perfluoroalkyl Substances from a Small Human Population

L. Blum, S. Donovan and D. Schiller, NMS Labs

Six perfluoroalkyl substances( PFAS) used by the U. S. EPA to assess drinking water under the Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule( UCMR3) were tested in 151 randomly selected de-identified serum samples. PFASs are a group of chemicals used in a variety of industries and consumer products. As a result of their use, these persistent chemicals can be found in drinking water. The six PFAS contaminants tested in drinking water by the U. S. EPA under UCMR3 include perfluorobutanesulfonic acid( PFBS), perfluoroheptanoic acid( PFHpA), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid( PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid( PFNA), perfluorooctanoic acid( PFOA) and perfluorooctancsulfonic acid( PFOS). The serum samples selected for testing had unknown exposures to these six PFASs. Sixty-four( 64) of the samples tested were from females and 87 from males. The samples were from individuals ranging in age from 1 to 90 years( average = 40.7 ± 20.7 years; median = 41.5 years) and were submitted from 24 different U. S. states. The quantitative assay used to test for the six PFASs in these serum specimens consisted of HPLC separation with negative-ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry( LC-MS / MS). The samples were prepared for analysis by adding analyte specific 13Carbon isotopes as internal standards with subsequent protein precipitation. The analytical measurement ranges( AMR) were 0.05 to 10 ng / mL for PFBS, PFHpA, PFHxS and PFNA; and 0.5 to 100 ng / mL for PFOA and PFOS. This population of specimens( n = 151) with unknown exposures to these substances showed the following respective median and 97.5th percentile values as measured for the linear components of PFBS(< 0.05, 0.06 ng / mL); PFHpA(< 0.05, 0.47 ng / mL); PFHxS( 0.99, 5.75 ng / mL); PFNA( 0.42, 1.44 ng / mL); PFOA( 1.12, 4.13 ng / mL); and PFOS( 1.77, 11.5 ng / mL). The values determined in this investigation were similar to other studies that measured these substances in the general population. This assay can be used in biological monitoring of serum for the six PFASs tested in drinking water under EPA UCMR3.

Presenter: Lee Blum, PhD, NMS Labs, Willow Grove, PA, Phone: 215.366.1224, Email: lee. blum @ nmslabs. com

Comparison of Water Quality Indicator Methods for Recreational Water in San Diego County

S. Steele, M. Victorio and B. Austin, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego, CA

Background: There are three accepted and widely utilized EPA approved bacterial water quality methods to monitor recreational beach water quality. These methods include multiple tube fermentation( MTF), membrane filtration( MF) and the definedsubstrate method. Each method has benefits and drawbacks. The purpose of this study is to identify the best water quality analysis method for the San Diego County shoreline based on quality, cost effectiveness and timeliness. Objective: San Diego County has an abundance of natural bathing beaches and ocean coastline to enjoy. In order to assure the public’ s health, the Department of Environmental Health( DEH) and Public Health Services set standards for bacterial contamination and engage in sampling, testing and reporting to the public the ongoing status of area beaches. The 1997 Beach Water Act( CA AB411) established the requirement for jurisdictions to monitor the quantity of the indicator bacteria known as total coliforms, fecal coliforms and enterococci. In 2004, the Federal Beach Water Act was passed, which required the monitoring of two bacterial indicators: Escherichia coli and enterococci. MTF is the current coliform method being used to assess water quality of San Diego County beaches and will be the benchmark against which the other methods are compared. MTF is labor-intensive and takes a long time to yield results. The San Diego Public Health Laboratory( SDPHL) hypothesized that equivalent results could be obtained in a shorter time frame with other methods.

Method: More than 2,000 samples from approximately 48 locations are to be collected and analyzed between April 2017 and April 2018. The EPA Site-Specific Alternative Recreational Criteria Technical Support Materials for Alternative Indicators and Methods will be used, along with the recommended index of agreement( IA) statistical calculation, to assess the agreement among methods and determine which methods can be used for each beach location.

Results: Method comparison results will be available at the conclusion of the study in April 2018. SDPHL will show the IA for paired samples that meet the detection criteria for each collection site. The study will demonstrate which method provides the best data based on accuracy, time to report and expense for each site.

Presenter: Syreeta Steele, PhD, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health Laboratory, San Diego, CA, Phone: 619.692.8500, Email: Syreeta. steele @ sdcounty. ca. gov