At the end of 2015 the case of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, C8) caught attention in the Netherlands. This was due to a series of studies performed around a plant of DuPont in Parkersburg, USA. To address public concern, the Dutch government decided to perform a risk assessment. The risk assessment was based on model calculations of blood levels of PFOA using emission data of the DuPont plant in the Netherlands. Three scenarios were examined. The worst – case scenario revealed that people living closest to the plant may have been exposed to PFOA levels higher than the limit values for many years.
For the follow-up several recommendations were made. Among them were: assessment of drink water safety, soil sanitation limits and retrieval of historical air emission values. Also a literature review on human health effect of PFOA and a verification study were recommended.
For the verification study a human biomonitoring study was performed. About 300 people that live in the vicinity of the plant were asked to give a blood sample and to fill in a short questionnaire. In addition a control group of about 50 people was included in the study. PFOA levels in serum were analyzed by a certified laboratory. The results will show to what extent model calculations were accurate and will be used to make recommendations for state interventions.