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Determination of Bioconcentration Factors for Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Hyalella azteca.
Citation:
Mundy, I., W. Backe, L. Burkhard, L. Glimsdal, S. Howe, S. Kadlec, Dave Mount, E. Piasecki, H. Sluka, J. Swanson, AND L. Votava. Determination of Bioconcentration Factors for Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Hyalella azteca. SETAC North America, Pittsburgh, PA, November 13 - 17, 2022. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.21565053
Impact/Purpose:
Poster presented to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) annual meeting November 2022. This will summarize measured bioconcentration factors (BCFs) for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in Hyalella azteca, and other small aquatic invertebrates as data becomes available. In ongoing toxicity testing with PFAS, BCF is necessary for inferring mechanism(s) of toxicity by relating water-column effect concentrations to critical body burden. This work will thus aid PFAS toxicity testing in H. azteca at ORD’S Duluth, MN laboratory by furthering the understanding of toxic mechanisms and development of structure-toxicity relationships. The intended audience is ecotoxicologists and risk assessors from government, industry, and academia at an international professional conference. This work is taking place under the Safe and Sustainable Water Resources National Program, specifically SSWR 3.2.2. DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this poster are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Description:
Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have elicited research interest in recent years, owing to their near ubiquitous environmental distribution, recalcitrance to degradation, and demonstrated ability to bioconcentrate in plants and wildlife. A subset of this research has focused on PFAS distribution and bioconcentration in high trophic level organisms, often those consumed by humans (e.g. fish). Yet, commensurate effort has not been devoted to bioaccumulation assessments in lower trophic level organisms. In addition to providing input data to food web modeling, uptake by low trophic level organisms is also of interest as a component in our group’s research into water column toxicity of PFAS with small aquatic invertebrates. Within this work, measured bioconcentration factors (BCFs) can be used to relate water column effect concentrations to expected internal dose. However, the lack of relevant measured BCFs leaves this line of analysis unavailable. This presentation focuses on experiments to measure PFAS BCFs in Hyalella azteca, a small aquatic invertebrate used by our group for sublethal toxicity testing of PFAS. The initial focus is primarily on legacy PFAS within the homologue series of sulfonic and carboxylic acids. Analyses of tissue residues and water concentrations are made by primarily by HPLC-MS, with HPLC-MS/MS used as needed. Method development efforts have yielded a stream-lined procedure for tissue extraction and clean-up, consisting of homogenization and extraction with acetonitrile followed by centrifugation and dilution prior to analysis. Preliminary measurements in single adult H. azteca have found BCFs (L/kg-wwt) of 7.0 ± 1.5, 62 ± 12, and 26 ± 6 for perfluorohexane sulfonate, perfluorooctane sulfonate, and perfluorononanoic acid, respectively. Future work will expand this scope to other, precursor PFAS and additional organisms. This will also include investigation of other factors that may influence BCF, such as testing with juvenile versus adult organisms and determination of BCF in mixtures versus single-chemical tests. Session Track: Session 3.04: PFAS and related compounds in terrestrial and aquatic wildlife: exposure, uptake, tissue distribution, and toxic effects.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Determination of Bioconcentration Factors for Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Hyalella azteca.
MUNDY_POSTER_FINAL.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 681.581 KB, about PDF)