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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2013;76(1):25–57. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2012.722523

Figure 1.

Figure 1

PBPK model structure for simulating PFOA and PFOS exposure during pregnancy in humans (maternal, left; fetal, right). Fetal plasma circulation is separate from the maternal circulation. Only the mother is exposed directly; chemical is transferred to the fetus through the placenta. Placental transfer is described by a simple diffusion process (ktrans1 and ktrans2). Q's represent blood flows to and from the tissues; only the free fraction of chemical in plasma is available for uptake into tissues. Because contributions to various exposure sources are unknown, the IV route is used as a generic input to plasma; maternal exposure can also be through drinking water.