BACKGROUND Previous studies have identified the consumption of country foods (hunted/harvested foods from the land) as the primary exposure source of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA) in Arctic communities. However, identifying the specific foods associated with PFAA exposures is complicated due to correlation between country foods that are commonly consumed together. METHODS We used venous blood sample data and food frequency questionnaire data from the Qanuilirpitaa? ("How are we now?") 2017 (Q2017) survey of Inuit individuals ≥16 y of age residing in Nunavik (n=1,193). Adaptive elastic net, a machine learning technique, identified the most important food items for predicting PFAA biomarker levels while accounting for the correlation among the food items. We used generalized linear regression models to quantify the association between the most predictive food items and six plasma PFAA biomarker levels. The estimates were converted to percent changes in a specific PFAA biomarker level per standard deviation increase in the consumption of a food item. Models were also stratified by food type (market or country foods). RESULTS Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) were associated with frequent consumption of beluga misirak (rendered fat) [14.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 10.3%, 18.9%; 14.6% (95% CI: 10.1%, 19.0%)], seal liver [9.3% (95% CI: 5.0%, 13.7%); 8.1% (95% CI: 3.5%, 12.6%)], and suuvalik (fish roe mixed with berries and fat) [6.0% (95% CI: 1.3%, 10.7%); 7.5% (95% CI: 2.7%, 12.3%)]. Beluga misirak was also associated with higher concentrations of perfluorohexanesulphonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), albeit with lower percentage changes. PFHxS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and PFNA followed some similar patterns, with higher levels associated with frequent consumption of ptarmigan [6.1% (95% CI: 3.2%, 9.0%); 5.1% (95% CI: 1.1%, 9.1%); 5.4% (95% CI: 1.8%, 9.0%)]. Among market foods, frequent consumption of processed meat and popcorn was consistently associated with lower PFAA exposure. CONCLUSIONS Our study identifies specific food items contributing to environmental contaminant exposure in Indigenous or small communities relying on local subsistence foods using adaptive elastic net to prioritize responses from a complex food frequency questionnaire. In Nunavik, higher PFAA biomarker levels were primarily related to increased consumption of country foods, particularly beluga misirak, seal liver, suuvalik, and ptarmigan. Our results support policies regulating PFAA production and use to limit the contamination of Arctic species through long-range transport. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13556.

中文翻译：

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使用特征选择工具表征努纳维克因纽特青年和成人中全氟烷基酸的重要膳食暴露源。


背景 先前的研究已确定，乡村食品（从陆地上狩猎/收获的食品）的消费是北极社区全氟烷基酸 (PFAA) 的主要暴露源。然而，由于通常一起食用的乡村食品之间存在相关性，因此确定与 PFAA 暴露相关的特定食品很复杂。方法 我们使用来自 Qanuilirpitaa? 的静脉血样本数据和食物频率问卷数据。 （“我们现在怎么样？”）2017 年（2017 年第二季度）对居住在努纳维克的 16 岁以上因纽特人进行的调查（n=1,193）。自适应弹性网络是一种机器学习技术，它确定了预测 PFAA 生物标志物水平最重要的食品，同时考虑了食品之间的相关性。我们使用广义线性回归模型来量化最具预测性的食品与六种血浆 PFAA 生物标志物水平之间的关联。这些估计值被转换为食品消耗量每增加一个标准差，特定 PFAA 生物标志物水平的百分比变化。模型还按食物类型（市场或乡村食品）进行分层。结果 全氟辛烷磺酸 (PFOS)、全氟癸酸 (PFDA) 和全氟十一烷酸 (PFUnDA) 与频繁食用白鲸 Misirak（提炼脂肪）有关 [14.6%； 95%置信区间（CI）：10.3%、18.9%； 14.6% (95% CI: 10.1%, 19.0%)]，海豹肝[9.3% (95% CI: 5.0%, 13.7%)； 8.1% (95% CI: 3.5%, 12.6%)]和suuvalik（鱼子与浆果和脂肪混合）[6.0% (95% CI: 1.3%, 10.7%)； 7.5%（95% CI：2.7%，12.3%）]。白鲸还与较高浓度的全氟己烷磺酸 (PFHxS) 和全氟壬酸 (PFNA) 有关，尽管百分比变化较低。 PFHxS、全氟辛酸 (PFOA) 和 PFNA 遵循一些类似的模式，其水平较高与经常食用雷鸟有关 [6.1% (95% CI: 3.2%, 9.0%)； 5.1%（95% CI：1.1%、9.1%）； 5.4%（95% CI：1.8%，9.0%）]。在市场食品中，经常食用加工肉类和爆米花始终与较低的 PFAA 暴露相关。结论 我们的研究使用自适应弹性网确定了导致依赖当地自给食物的土著或小型社区环境污染物暴露的特定食物项目，以优先考虑复杂食物频率调查问卷的反应。在努纳维克，较高的 PFAA 生物标志物水平主要与乡村食品消费量的增加有关，特别是白鲸、海豹肝、suuvalik 和雷鸟。我们的研究结果支持监管全氟辛酸生产和使用的政策，以限制北极物种通过远距离运输受到污染。 https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13556。