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Bogdan et al. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:14 Journal of Environmental
DOI: 10.20517/jeea.2024.08
Exposure Assessment

Research Article Open Access

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in
powdered infant formula: potential exposures and

health risks

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1
1
Alexander R Bogdan 1 , Kristine S Klos , Christopher W Greene , Carin A Huset , Kitrina M Barry ,
Helen M Goeden 3
1
Health Risk Assessment Unit, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164-0975, USA.
2
Public Health Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164-0975, USA.
3
Health Risk Assessment Unit (retired), Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164-0975, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Alexander R Bogdan, Minnesota Department of Health, 625 Robert St. N, P.O. Box 64975, St. Paul, MN,
55164-0975, USA. E-mail: alex.bogdan@state.mn.us
How to cite this article: Bogdan AR, Klos KS, Greene CW, Huset CA, Barry KM, Goeden HM. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) in powdered infant formula: potential exposures and health risks. J Environ Expo Assess 2024;3:14. https://dx.doi.org/10.
20517/jeea.2024.08

Received: 13 Feb 2024 First Decision: 19 Apr 2024 Revised: 26 Apr 2024 Accepted: 15 May 2024 Published: 11 Jun 2024

Academic Editor: Stuart Harrad Copy Editor: Dong-Li Li Production Editor: Dong-Li Li

Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of human-made persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic
compounds. People can be exposed to PFAS through many different pathways, including food, drinking water, and
PFAS-containing consumer products. Infants are recognized as particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of
PFAS while also being among the most highly exposed populations. Exposure to PFAS begins in utero via placental
transfer and can continue after birth from environmental exposures and breastfeeding. PFAS-contaminated water,
if used to mix infant formula, is an important potential exposure route for formula-fed infants because they
consume more fluid on a per-body-weight basis than older individuals. However, data about potential PFAS
exposures from powdered infant formula itself are lacking. To address this data gap, we analyzed 17 powdered
infant formulas for 10 different PFAS. Only one type of PFAS, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), was detected in
a single dairy-based formula at a reconstituted concentration of 8.9 ng/L. Using our recently updated toxicokinetic
model, we estimated serum PFOS concentration curves over the first year of life for various exposure scenarios,
including different fluid intake rates, formula reconstituted with uncontaminated and contaminated water, and with
and without placental transfer. Our analytical results indicate the single PFOS detection in powdered infant formula
is not a major source of PFOS relative to other sources, and our risk assessment comparing various formula-fed

© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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