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Toxicology

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in North Carolina

Team Members

Overview

Water samples collected from around North Carolina have revealed that PFAS contamination is detectable in surface waters used as drinking water sources across many communities. Many of these PFAS likely find their way into finished drinking water, and the vast majority have little to no toxicological data associated with them. These understudied PFAS also are not associated with any health-based exposure limits at the state or federal level. To implement health-based exposure limits at the state level, “reference doses” (RfDs) from toxicological studies are required. RfD are health-based values that link exposure doses to adverse health outcomes and form the basis of health-based exposure limits. Our studies are designed to develop the data needed for RfDs. The PFAS that we intend to study under this proposal include those that:

  1. have been detected in surface waters by the PFAST Network and/or detected in the blood of NC residents drinking PFAS-contaminated water,
  2. are available as purified chemicals to administer as dosing solutions (from a commercial vendor where they are assessed for purity), and/or
  3. have limited to no toxicological data available in publicly available literature.

Molecular mechanisms of PFAS in the modulation of hepatotoxicity and non-alcohol fatty liver disease

Team Member

Overview

The objective is to investigate the molecular mechanisms of PFAS in the modulation of hepatotoxicity and non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD) at physiologically-relevant concentrations. The detailed consequences of PFAS at these concentrations in liver diseases have not been defined.