On December 20, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the publication of a second set of analytical testing results of 16 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 88 foods within the agency’s ongoing Total Diet Study (TDS). All food samples for all measured PFAS were found to be below the method detection limits with the exception of one sample of tilapia that had a concentration of 88 parts per trillion of perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFOS; CAS 1763-23-1). The FDA writes that the “sample sizes are limited and cannot be used to draw definitive conclusions” and concludes that “based on the best available current science, the FDA has no indication that PFOS levels found in the limited sampling from these TDS data sets present a human health concern.”
PFAS are not currently regularly measured within the TDS, and the agency reported that these test results “will be used to determine how the FDA will monitor PFAS in foods going forward, including whether steps should be taken to include it in the TDS, and/or if targeted sampling assignments are necessary for certain foods.” In October 2019, the FDA published the validated analytical method used for measuring the 16 PFAS as well as the first set of testing results for 91 food samples (FPF reported). In those results, 2 of 91 food samples were found to have detectable levels of PFAS, both of which were also PFOS.
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FDA (December 20, 2019). “FDA Makes Available Results from Second Round of Testing for PFAS in Foods from the General Food Supply.”
FDA (December 20, 2019). “Analytical Results for PFAS in 2019 Total Diet Study Sampling (Parts Per Trillion)—Dataset 2.”(pdf)
FDA (December 20, 2019). “Questions and Answers on Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Food.”
