PFAS Exposure and Effects
Topics and Projects
PFAS act as baseline toxicants in many bioassays. We developed a prediction model for baseline toxicity that can be used to identify and prioritise PFAS with specific models of action.
Activities
Contributing scientists:
Luise Henneberger
Julia Huchthausen
Weiping Qin
Maria König
Beate Escher
PFAS have a high binding affinity to blood proteins at the low concentrations of occurrences. In in vitro bioassays they are more bioavailable as they are effective only at much higher concentrations. This difference in binding affinity needs to be accounted for in qivive models for Quantitative in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation.
Activities
Contributing scientists:
Luise Henneberger
Julia Huchthausen
Weiping Qin
Maria König
Beate Escher
Neurotoxicity of mixtures of PFAS and other neuroactive organic pollutants are assessed through integrated in silico, in vitro cellular and in vivo models.
Activities
Contributing scientists:
Contributing scientists:
We study reproductive and immune toxicological impact of PFAS using different models.
Activities
Many PFAS are neuroactive in zebrafish. However, zebrafish embryo behavior data has yet to be used for human and ecological risk assessment. One reason is a lack of confidence that chemical-dependent changes in zebrafish behavior represent developmentally or acutely neurotoxic endpoints that are translationally relevant. One strategy that can build confidence in the use of these data is a better understanding of underlying mechanisms that drive behavior effects. Our work seeks to causally describe chemical mode of action to generate regulatory confidence that PFAS exposure is likely to disrupt neurodevelopment across taxa, including humans.
Activities
As of 01/2025
Ríos-Bonilla, K. M.; Aga, D. S.; Lee, J.; König, M.; Qin, W.; Cristobal, J. R.; Atilla-Gokcumen, G. E.; Escher, B. I., Neurotoxic Effects of Mixtures of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) at Environmental and Human Blood Concentrations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 16774-16784; DOI 10.1021/acs.est.4c06017.
Qin, W.; Escher, B. I.; Huchthausen, J.; Fu, Q.; Henneberger, L., Species Difference? Bovine, Trout, and Human Plasma Protein Binding of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 9954-9966; DOI 10.1021/acs.est.3c10824.
Qin, W.; Henneberger, L.; Glüge, J.; König, M.; Escher, B. I., Baseline Toxicity Model to Identify the Specific and Nonspecific Effects of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Cell-Based Bioassays. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 5727-5738; DOI 10.1021/acs.est.3c09950.
Qin, W.; Henneberger, L.; Huchthausen, J.; König, M.; Escher, B. I., Role of bioavailability and protein binding of four anionic perfluoroalkyl substances in cell-based bioassays for quantitative in vitro to in vivo extrapolations. Environ. Internat. 2023, 173, 107857; DOI 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107857.
Xia Y., Fu Q., Voss H., Fest S., Zenclussen A.C., Stojanovska V. Evaluation of real-life PFAS mixture toxicity and impact on 3D placenta spheroid model. Tox Let. Vol 399S2; 2024 DOI 10.1016/j.toxlet.2024.07.471
Maddalon, A., Pierzchalski, A., Kretschmer, T., Bauer, M., Zenclussen, A. C., Marinovich, M., Corsini, E., & Herberth, G. (2023). Mixtures of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reduce the in vitro activation of human T cells and basophils. Chemosphere, 336, 139204. DOI 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139204
Fischer, F., Pierzchalski, A., Riesbeck, S., Aldehoff, A. S., Castaneda-Monsalve, V. A., Haange, S. B., von Bergen, M., Rolle-Kampczyk, U. E., Jehmlich, N., Zenclussen, A. C., & Herberth, G. (2024). An in vitro model system for testing chemical effects on microbiome-immune interactions - examples with BPX and PFAS mixtures. Frontiers in immunology, 15, 1298971. DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1298971
Gutsfeld S, Wehmas L, Omoyeni I, Schweiger N, Leuthold D, Michaelis P, Howey XM, Gaballah S, Herold N, Vogs C, Wood C, Bertotto L, Wu GM, Klüver N, Busch W, Scholz S, Schor J, Tal T. Investigation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Genes as Requirements for Visual Startle Response Hyperactivity in Larval Zebrafish Exposed to Structurally Similar Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Environ Health Perspect. 2024 Jul;132(7):77007. DOI 10.1289/EHP13667
Seltenrich N. Neurotox Screen? Zebrafish Study Points to PFOS Early-Life Exposure Effects. Environ Health Perspect. 2024 Aug;132(8):84001. DOI 10.1289/EHP15467