Evidence for the Trophic Transfer of Perfluoroalkylated Substances in a Temperate Macrotidal Estuary

Abstract

The present survey examines the trophodynamics of a suite of 19 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in a temperate macrotidal estuary (Gironde, SW France). Across the 147 biota samples (18 taxa) collected, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), and C-C perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) were the most-recurrent analytes. ΣPFASs ranged between 0.66-45 ng per g of wet weight of the whole body. Benthic organisms had relatively high ΣPFASs compared to demersal organisms and displayed specific composition profiles with higher relative abundances of C and C PFCAs. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) were determined through the use of linear mixed effect models including censored data, thereby considering data below detection limits as well as the interspecific variability of δN and PFAS levels (random effects). TMFs were almost consistently >1 in the benthic food web as well as when considering all data pooled together, providing evidence for the biomagnification of several PFASs in estuarine environments. In addition, in contrast with previous observations, TMFs determined in the estuarine benthic web were found to significantly decrease with increasing chain length for C-C PFCAs and C-C perfluoroalkyl sulfonates. This suggests that PFAS chemical structure might not be necessarily predictive of TMFs, which are also influenced by the trophic web characteristics.

Investigation of the spatial variability of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance trophic magnification in selected riverine ecosystems

“…The method accuracy was satisfactory, with values between 80-113 % except for PFHpS (66 %) ( Table S7). The results for in-house control matrix and SRM 1947 agreed with those previously obtained in our laboratory (Munoz et al 2017) and those reported by Reiner et al (2012) (Table S8). Variation coefficients (relative standard deviation < 30 %) indicated suitable whole-method precision as per international guidelines (Shoemaker et al, 2009).…”

“…The sample preparation was based on a previously validated method with few modifications (Munoz et al 2017). Between 50 and 250 mg dry weight (dw) of each sample was extracted, depending on the available sample amount.…”

“…Analyses were carried out using a 1200 LC system coupled with a 6490 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer from Agilent technologies (Massy, France) (Munoz et al, 2017). Details on the detection method are presented in the SI (Table S5).…”

“…Two regression approaches were considered: a Kendall regression and a generalized linear mixedeffect model (GLMM) (Munoz et al 2017). While both approaches take into account non-detect data, the GLMM model also takes into consideration the interspecific variability (random effect) as well as the different number of samples per taxon.…”

Organic Contaminants in Zooplankton of Italian Subalpine Lakes: Patterns of Distribution and Seasonal Variations

“…Concentrations of PFAS in pelagic invertebrates in this study are higher than those that are reported in Baltic Sea [36], where the sums of PFSA and PFCA in zooplankton were only 0.11 ± 0.02 and 0.12 ± 0.01 ng g −1 ww, respectively. On the contrary, they are comparable with the concentrations that were measured in the Gironde estuary (France) [37] and in the Arctic Canadian Lakes that are not contaminated by local airport [38].…”