Food Safety Concerns: Crop Breeding as a Potential Strategy To Address Issues Associated with the Recently Lowered Reference Doses for Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate.

Abstract

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are perfluorinated alkyl substances widely used in industrial and domestic products. The European Food Safety Authority and United States Environmental Protection Agency have recently lowered the reference doses (RfDs) for PFOA and PFOS 4-1800-fold. The recently lowered RfDs call for re-evaluation of potential human health risks from PFOA and PFOS via food consumption. Serious concerns arise because some intakes of PFOA and PFOS exceeded the RfDs. Innovative cultivation of low-accumulating crop varieties becomes an option to decrease human exposure. We present an up-to-date review on low-accumulating crop varieties for PFOA and PFOS in reference to toxic metals and other organic pollutants, including the variety identification, physiological-biochemical mechanisms, molecular uptake mechanisms, and molecular docking, to call for attention and research efforts to decrease human intakes of PFOA and PFOS via crop consumption.