Comment on 'Associations between PFOA, PFOS and changes in the expression of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism in humans' by Fletcher et al., Environment International 57-58 (2013) 2-10

摘要

Biomonitoring studies in humans show accumulation of perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) in both occupationally-exposed individuals and in the general population. There have been myriad studies examining the effects of the environmentally relevant PFCs including perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in laboratory animal species. Even though we know a great deal about how compounds such as PFOA and PFOS result in their effects and their dose-response characteristics in rodents, there is still controversy as to the risk posed to humans by occupational or environmental exposure. Thus, it was with great interest that I read the article by Fletcher et al. (Fletcher et al., 2013) where they studied the association between exposure to PFOA and PFOS and in vivo expression of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism, in particular those with a role in cholesterol efflux.