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# Toxic PFAAs found in South Korean foods
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/toxic_pfaas_found_in_south_korean_foods_0808140832/
- Published: 2014-08-08T09:31:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:19:03.000Z
- Description: Testing 397 South Korean foods, Pusan National University scientists found PFOS and long-chain PFCAs mainly in fish, shellfish and processed foods, and PFOA and short-chain PFCAs mainly in dairy and beverages. Tap water can dominate PFOA intake where people drink it.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Chemical, Food Safety, #vivvo-import

After testing 397 foods in South Korea, scientists at Pusan National University in Busan, Republic of Korea found how PFAAs distribute in foods. 

They found PFOS and long chain PFCAs were mainly found in fish, shellfish and processed foods while PFOA and short chain PFCAs were found mainly in dairy foods and beverages. 

PFAAs- perfluoroalkyl acids

PFOS - perfluorooctane sulfonate 

PFCAs - perfluorocarboxylic acids

PFOA - perfluorooctanoic acids

The scientists also found that tap water can be the major contributor to PFOA intake when it was the main source of drinking water.

Overall, the Korean adult dietary intakes of PFOS and PFOA range from 0.60 to 3.03 ng/kg body weight/day and from 0.17 to1.68 ng/kg body weight/day, respectively. These are compared to 150ngkg-1bwd-1 of PFOS and 1500ngkg-1bwd-1 of PFOA, the total daily intake limits set by European Food Safety Authority.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which are most commonly used, and their derivaties are both water and oil resistant and the materials made of these chemicals have found more than 200 industrial and consumer applications in developed countries. They are used in consumer products and household products like fabric coatings, carpet coatings, paper coatings, floor polish/wax, alkaline cleaners, denture cleaners, and shampoos among others.

These chemicals are toxic to animals and toxic to humans too. They are known to induce hepatotoxicity, carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, hormonal imbalance, neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity. (David Liu)

Heo JJ, Lee JW, Kim SK, Oh JE. Foodstuff analyses show that seafood and water are major perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) sources to humans in Korea. J Hazard Mater. 2014 Jul 14;279C:402-409.