An assessment of PFAS contamination in wild boar meat and liver

In this study 266 wild boar samples (152 meat and 114 liver) from Germany were evaluated for contamination with four EU-regulated perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), namely perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). The arithmetic mean concentrations of the sum of these four PFAS were 5.18 µg/kg in meat and 448 µg/kg in liver and the corresponding median values were 1.24 µg/kg and 339 µg/kg, respectively. All liver samples (100%) and 12.5% of the meat samples exceeded the maximum levels set by the European Union (EU Regulation 2023/915), rendering them unmarketable. Finally, potential health risks associated with dietary exposure to wild boar meat and liver were assessed based on the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 4.4 ng/kg body weight for the sum of the four PFAS, assuming a human body weight of 70 kg.