Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure in the U.S. population: NHANES 1999–March 2020

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment, have been used in many commercial applications since the 1940s. Of late, the detection of PFAS in drinking water throughout the United States has raised public and scientific concerns. To understand PFAS exposure trends in the general U.S. population, we analyzed select PFAS serum concentration data from participants ≥12 years old of nine National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles. Our goals were to a) evaluate concentration changes of four legacy PFAS—perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and…

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  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention