Background

PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large class of synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer products and industrial processes. The scientific literature on PFAS has increased dramatically in the last decade. Many stakeholders, including regulators, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and concerned individuals could benefit from an efficient way to access the health and toxicological literature related to PFAS.

Objective

To create a systematic evidence map of the available peer-reviewed health or toxicological research for 29 PFAS.

Methods

A protocol for conducting this systematic evidence map was initially published on Zenodo (Pelch et al. 2019c), then peer reviewed and published in Environment International (Pelch et al. 2019d). PubMed database was searched through January 25, 2021. Studies were screened for inclusion and exclusion according to the Populations, Exposures, Comparators, and Outcomes (PECO) statement. Inclusion criteria were intentionally broad and included any human, animal, and/or in vitro study that investigated exposure to one of the 29 PFAS of interest and a human health or toxicological effect. Selected study details were extracted from included studies as described in the protocol. Study appraisal was not conducted. The included studies and extracted meta-data are freely available in the online, interactive systematic evidence map at https://pfastoxdatabase.org.

Results

Over 15,000 studies were retrieved from the PubMed literature searches. After manual screening, 1,067 studies were identified and included as investigating the health or toxicological effect of one or more PFAS of interest. There were 505 human, 385 animal, and 220 in vitro studies. Summary tables of the extracted data and overall observations are included in this report.

Conclusions

The PFAS-Tox Database is a useful tool for searching, filtering, and identifying peer reviewed research on the health and toxicological effects of the included PFAS. In this summary of the evidence map we provide examples of data gaps and clusters revealed by the database, with the goal of helping direct future research efforts, facilitate systematic reviews (e.g. on immune effects, mixtures of PFAS, or effects of short chain PFAS), inform regulatory risk assessments, and improve opportunities for cross-disciplinary coordination. We also discuss how this tool supports scientists, regulatory agencies, and other individuals by increasing awareness and access to current evidence regarding the health effects associated with PFAS exposure.

中文翻译：

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PFAS-Tox 数据库：关于 29 种全氟和多氟烷基物质的健康研究的系统证据图

背景

PFAS（全氟和多氟烷基物质）是一类广泛用于消费品和工业过程的合成化学品。在过去十年中，关于 PFAS 的科学文献急剧增加。许多利益相关者，包括监管机构、科学家、非政府组织和相关个人，都可以从获取与 PFAS 相关的健康和毒理学文献的有效方式中受益。

客观的

为 29 种 PFAS 的可用同行评审健康或毒理学研究创建系统证据图。

方法

用于执行此系统证据图的协议最初发表在 Zenodo（Pelch 等人 2019c）上，然后经过同行评审并发表在 Environment International 上（Pelch 等人 2019d）。检索 PubMed 数据库至 2021 年 1 月 25 日。根据人群、暴露、比较者和结果 (PECO) 声明筛选研究的纳入和排除。纳入标准有意广泛，包括任何人类、动物和/或体外研究，调查暴露于 29 种感兴趣的 PFAS 中的一种以及人类健康或毒理学影响。如方案中所述，从纳入的研究中提取了选定的研究细节。没有进行研究评估。纳入的研究和提取的元数据- 数据可在https://pfastoxdatabase.org的在线交互式系统证据地图中免费获得。

结果

从 PubMed 文献检索中检索到超过 15,000 项研究。经过人工筛选，1,067 项研究被确定并纳入调查一种或多种感兴趣的 PFAS 的健康或毒理学影响。进行了 505 项人体研究、385 项动物研究和 220项体外研究。提取数据和总体观察的汇总表包含在本报告中。

结论

PFAS-Tox 数据库是一个有用的工具，用于搜索、过滤和识别同行评审的关于所包含 PFAS 的健康和毒理学影响的研究。在这份证据图摘要中，我们提供了数据库揭示的数据差距和集群的示例，目的是帮助指导未来的研究工作，促进系统评价（例如关于免疫效应、PFAS 的混合物或短链 PFAS 的影响） ，为监管风险评估提供信息，并增加跨学科协调的机会。我们还讨论了该工具如何通过提高认识和获取有关与 PFAS 暴露相关的健康影响的当前证据来支持科学家、监管机构和其他个人。