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Tissue-specific distribution of legacy and novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in juvenile seabirds
Citation:
Robuck, A., J. McCord, M. Strynar, M. Cantwell, D. Wiley, AND R. Lohmann. Tissue-specific distribution of legacy and novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in juvenile seabirds. Environmental Science & Technology Letters. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 8(6):457-462, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00222
Impact/Purpose:
In this study seabirds are used in several coastal estuaries to confirm the presence of legacy PFAS in marine systems along the US East Coast. New information is presented describing the occurrence of PFAS replacement compounds along with links between PFAS and biological conditions in the seabirds. Overall, our results stress the continued importance of monitoring PFAS in marine life to accurately assess the potential exposure and movement of PFAS through marine food webs, especially as changes in regulation and production shift the suite of PFAS found in the environment. Continued monitoring of seabirds and other wildlife will result in identifying responses and effects related to ambient PFAS levels and improve our current understanding of ecological effects. Understanding PFAS levels and their potential effects in marine food webs will benefit public and ecological health as well as commerce due to our dependence on coastal marine systems for economic and ecosystem services.
Description:
Of the thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment, few have been investigated in detail. In this study, we analyzed 36 legacy and emerging PFAS in multiple seabird tissues collected from individuals from Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Bay, and the Cape Fear River Estuary. PFOS was the dominant compound across multiple tissues, while long-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) dominated in brain (mean = 44% of total concentrations). Emerging perfluoroalkyl ether acids (PFEAs)—Nafion byproduct-2 and PFO5DoDA—were detected in greater than 90% of tissues in birds obtained from a nesting region downstream from a major fluorochemical production site. Compound ratios, relative body burden calculations, and electrostatic surface potential calculations were used to describe partitioning behavior of PFEAs in different tissues. Novel PFEAs preferentially partition into blood compared to liver and were documented in brain for the first time. PFO5DoDA showed a reduced preference for brain compared to PFCAs and Nafion BP2. These results suggest future monitoring efforts and toxicological studies should focus on novel PFAS and long-chain PFCAs in multiple tissues beyond liver and blood, while exploring the unique binding mechanisms driving uptake of multi-ether PFEAs.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Tissue-specific distribution of legacy and novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in juvenile seabirds
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00222