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Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) acts as a tumor promoter on Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells

  • 15th International Symposium on Toxicity Assessment
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Abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) (C8F17SO3) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (C8HF15O2) are synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial applications for their hydrophobic and oleophobic properties. They are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to mammalian species. Their widespread distribution on earth and contamination of human serum raised concerns about long-term side effects. They are suspected to be carcinogenic through a nongenotoxic mode of action, a mechanism supported by recent findings that PFOS induced cell transformation but no genotoxicity in Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells. In the present study, we evaluated carcinogenic potential of PFOA using the cell transformation assay on SHE cells. The chemical was applied alone or in combination with a nontransformant concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP, 0.4 μM) in order to detect PFOA ability to act as tumor initiator or tumor promoter. The results showed that PFOA tested alone in the range 3.7 × 10−5 to 300 μM did not induce SHE cell transformation frequency in a 7-day treatment. On the other side, the combination BaP/PFOA induced cell transformation at all PFOA concentrations tested, which revealed synergistic effects. No genotoxicity of PFOA on SHE cells was detected using the comet assay after 5 and 24 h of exposure. No significant increase in DNA breakage was found in BaP-initiated cells exposed to PFOA in a 7-day treatment. The whole results showed that PFOA acts as a tumor promoter and a nongenotoxic carcinogen. Cell transformation in initiated cells was observed at concentrations equivalent to the ones found in human serum of nonoccupationally and occupationally exposed populations. An involvement of PFOA in increased incidence of cancer recorded in occupationally exposed population cannot be ruled out.

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Acknowledgments

This study was granted by the Region Lorraine Ministry of Research within CPER Research Programme in France, and Fonds Européens de Développement Régional. The authors are grateful to Dr. Ennen-Simard and her colleagues from the Thionville Bel Air Hospital, Department of Oncology, Radiotherapy, and Curietherapy for the irradiation of SHE feeder cells.

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  1. Laboratory Interactions Ecotoxicology Biodiversity Ecosystems (LIEBE), University Paul Verlaine, CNRS UMR 7146, Rue du General Delestraint, 57070, Metz, France

    N. Jacquet, M. A. Maire, C. Rast, M. Bonnard & P. Vasseur

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  1. N. Jacquet
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  2. M. A. Maire
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Jacquet, N., Maire, M.A., Rast, C. et al. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) acts as a tumor promoter on Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells. Environ Sci Pollut Res 19, 2537–2549 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-0968-z

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