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Human exposure to per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) is a major public health concern because in the last decades several cases of overexposure of people to PFASs, in particular through contaminated water, occurred worldwide. In 2013-2017 a PFAS drinking water contamination was discovered and investigated in northern Italy (Veneto region) and high PFAS serum levels were detected in exposed people. 629 subjects were enrolled: 257 residing in municipalities in the areas under impact, 250 residing in municipalities in areas at presumed background exposure and 122 farmers living in contaminated rural areas producing and consuming own livestock and vegetables and frequently using well water. The highest PFAS serum concentrations (median PFOA concentrations 40 ng/g) were found in the subgroup of farmers. The main factors influencing PFAS serum levels of farmers were residence area and the related extent of drinking water contamination, gender, years of residence in the municipalities, well water consumption and consumption of own produced food. PFOA serum concentrations in farmers residing in the areas of the Veneto region impacted by PFAS contamination are among the highest found worldwide., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was assessed in a cohort of 394 subjects, 198 residing in three small municipalities near a new waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator located in the Turin area, and 196 residing in neighbouring control areas in the town (of Turin). The assessment of exposure to PAHs was part of a human biomonitoring study aimed at assessing potential incremental exposure to pollutants related to incineration activities through the analysis of such pollutants before the plant start-up, and after one and three years of operation. The exposure assessment described in this study was carried out before the start-up of the WTE incinerator. Ten monohydroxy-PAHs (OH-PAHs) were analyzed in urine samples, consisting in the principal metabolites of naphthalene (NAP), fluorene (FLU), phenanthrene (PHE), and pyrene (PYR). Concentrations of the sum of OH-PAHs (Σ 10 OH-PAHs) were in the range of 525-85200 ng/g creatinine, with P 50 equal to 6770 ng/g creatinine. Metabolites of naphthalene were found at the highest concentrations (P 50 values of 892 and 4300 ng/g creatinine for 1- and 2-OH-NAP, respectively) followed by the three OH-FLUs (P 50 values of individual compounds in the range of 58.2-491 ng/g creatinine), the four OH-PHEs (P 50 values in the range of 30.5-145 ng/g creatinine), and 1-OH-PYR (P 50 value of 82.8 ng/g creatinine). Concentrations of 1-OH-NAP, 9-OH-FLU, 1-, 2-, 3, 4-OH-PHE, and 1-OH-PYR were significantly lower in subjects living near the WTE plant compared to those living in the town of Turin, with differences between the two groups in the range 14-31%. Smoking habits markedly influence the urinary concentrations OH-PAHs. Median concentrations of the single metabolites in smokers were from 1.4 fold (for 4-OH-PHE) to 14 fold higher (for 3-OH-FLU) than those observed in non-smokers. The heating system used also resulted to be a major contributor to PAH exposure. Concentrations of OH-PAHs were generally comparable with those observed in other industrialized countries. The profile pattern was consistent with those reported in the literature. Concentrations of OH-PAHs assessed in this study may be considered indicative of the background exposure to PAHs for adult population living in an urban and industrialized area., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)