Risks of perfluorinated chemicals in the environment

该研究将检查环境中普遍存在的全氟化学品（PFCs），包括尚未确定的PFCs，以便评估其安全性。由于其独特的性质，全氟化碳在制造工艺和产品中的使用越来越频繁，数量也越来越大。PFC是重要和有用的产品，例如在电子工业中。全氟化学品也具有持久性和生物累积性;有些在环境相关浓度下具有毒性。2000年，我的研究小组首次在环境中发现了PFCs。从那时起，我们已经开发了仪器的方法来测量环境中的PFCs的浓度，并确定了一些关键机制的毒性的PFCs的一些成员。随后，我们开发了生物测定来筛选PFCs的影响。我们的研究结果导致北美停止生产一些常见的PFC，尽管它们仍然在亚洲生产和使用。最近，我们确定环境中不到2%的合成有机结合氟可以由已知的PFC来解释。这意味着98%的潜在危险的氟化化合物尚未被识别。关键是要确定剩余的化合物，以便进行全面的风险评估。我们将开发和应用尖端的分析方法来识别额外的化合物，以确定它们是否对人类或环境造成危害。我们将开发和应用新的分析方法来定量测量非常低浓度的已知化合物;将开发和应用方法来测量总的有机结合氟;并将确定以前未描述的PFCs在环境中。我们还将使用分子生物学和生物测定技术，以确定两种已知的全氟化学品的毒性和相对效力的机制-单独和从环境基质中提取的全氟化学品的混合物。最后，我们希望能够使用这些化合物的危害和风险的新估计来评估它们对人类和环境的潜在不利影响。

The research will examine perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) that are ubiquitous in the environment, including as yet unidentified PFCs so that their safety can be assessed. Because of their unique properties PFCs are being used more often and in greater quantities in manufacturing processes and products. PFCs are important and useful products, for instance in the electronics industry. PFCs are also persistent, bioaccumulative; some are toxic at environmentally relevant concentrations. In 2000, my research team identified PFCs in the environment for the first time. Since then we have developed instrumental methods to measure concentrations of PFCs in the environment and determined some of the critical mechanisms of toxicity of some members of the PFCs. Subsequently, we have developed bioassays to screen for effects of PFCs. The results of our research led to the cessation of North American production of some of the common PFCs, though they are still manufactured and used in Asia. Recently, we determined that less than 2% of the synthetic, organically-bound fluorine in the environment can be accounted for by known PFCs. That means that 98% of the potentially hazardous fluorinated compounds have not been identified. It is critical to identify the remaining compounds so that a comprehensive risk assessment can be made. We will develop and apply cutting-edge analytical methods to identify the additional compounds are to ascertain if they present hazards to humans or to the environment. We will both develop and apply novel analytical methods for the quantitative measurement of very low concentrations of known compounds; will develop and apply methods to measure total organically bound fluorine; and will identify previously undescribed PFCs in the environment. We will also use molecular biology and bioassay techniques to determine the mechanism of toxicity and relative potencies of both known PFCs -- individually and in mixtures of PFCs extracted from environmental matrices. Finally, we expect to be able to use the new estimates of hazard and risk of the compounds to assess their potential for adverse effects on humans and the environment.