[Risk appraisal of dietary intake of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by the Veneto population living in the area with water contamination. Update based on EFSA 2020 limits. Food surveillance campaign 2016-2017].

Abstract

The Veneto Region (Northern Italy) conducted a monitoring campaign in the years 2016-2017 in order to evaluate the concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in foods in the area affected by the water contamination discovered in 2013. The risk assessment for the resident population was conducted by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) in 2018 and updated in 2021. The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) updated the limits used by ISS, in particular adding a limit for the sum of four PFAS molecules in 2020. In this work, the risk assessment conducted by ISS is reviewed in light of the new limit of 4.4 ng/kg body weight for the sum of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS). In the adult population (18-65 years), total weekly intakes, calculated for the years preceding 2013, resulted more than ten times the EFSA 2020 limit, more than five times in the intermediate period 2013-2017 - preceding the implementation of mitigation actions through double filtration of the water of the aqueduct -, by more than three times in the period after 2018, and yet by almost seven times for those who supply contaminated groundwater through private wells. The food contribution for those who use filtered water from the aqueduct is equal to 20% of the total weekly income.