Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Seung Hee Lee
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Jun-Young Yang
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Jin Hee Lee
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Ki Kyung Jung
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Ji Hyun Seok
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Sung-Hee Kim
Severance Biomedical Science Institute, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Ki Taek Nam
Severance Biomedical Science Institute, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 03760, Korea
Jayoung Jeong
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Jong Kwon Lee
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
Jae-Ho Oh
Toxicological Research Division, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Osong, Chungcheongbuk-do 28159, Korea
The compound 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (F-53B), a replacement for perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) in the electroplating industry, has been widely detected in numerous environmental matrices, human sera, and organisms. Due to regulations that limit PFOS use, F-53B use is expected to increase. Therefore, in this study, we performed a subchronic oral toxicity study of F-53B in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. F-53B was administered orally once daily to male and female rats for 28 days at doses of 5, 20, and 100 mg/kg/day. There were no toxicologically significant changes in F-53B-treated rats, except in the thyroid gland. However, F-53B slightly reduced the serum concentrations of thyroid hormones, including triiodothyronine and thyroxine, compared with their concentrations in the vehicle group. F-53B also induced follicular hyperplasia and was associated with increased thyroid hormone biosynthesis-associated protein expression. These results demonstrate that F-53B is a strong regulator of thyroid hormones in SD rats as it disrupts thyroid function. Thus, caution should be exercised in the industrial application of F-53B as an alternative for PFOS.
