The awarded poster “Mixture toxicity of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in zebrafish larvae and HepG2 cells” was created by Shuhan Wang, with suggestions and guidance from Dr. Benedikt Bauer and Prof. Dr. Henning Hintzsche from the Department of Food Safety, Institute of Nutritional and Food Science.
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are organofluorine compounds, which have been widely used in commercial and industrial products due to their unique physical and chemical properties. PFAS have gained notoriety as "forever chemicals." Due to their persistence, they accumulate in the environment and food chain. If they enter the human body, they damage the liver and the immune system. While some findings have already been generated on the toxic effects of individual PFAS, little is known about the toxicological effects of PFAS mixtures. Filling this data gap is the goal of Shuhan Wang's doctoral thesis in the Food Safety Working Group.
This work has now been awarded the poster prize in the section "Mixture Toxicology" at this year's annual meeting of the German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology.