Temporal Trends (1981–2013) of Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Total Fluorine in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

Abstract

Temporal trends from 1981 to 2013 of 28 per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were investigated in liver tissue of cod (Gadus morhua) sampled near southeast Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. A total of 10 PFASs were detected, with ∑ 28 PFAS geometric mean concentrations ranging from 6.03 to 23.9 ng/g ww. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant PFAS, which increased at a rate of 3.4% per year. Most long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids increased at rates of 3.9 to 7.3% per year except for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), which did not change significantly over time. The perfluoroalkyl acid precursors perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA) and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid were detected, of which the former (FOSA) declined at a rate of -4.4% per year, possibly reflecting its phase-out starting in 2000. An alternate time trend analysis from 2000 to 2013 produced slightly different results, with most compounds increasing at slower rates compared to the entire study period. An exception was perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), increasing at a faster rate of 3.7% measured from 2000 on, compared to the 3.0% per year measured starting from 1981. Analysis of the total fluorine content of the samples revealed large amounts of unidentified fluorine; however, its composition (organic or inorganic) remains unclear. Significant negative correlations were found between concentrations of individual PFASs (with the exception of PFOS) and liver somatic index. In addition, body length was negatively correlated with PFOA and perfluorononanoate, but positively correlated with perfluorododecanoate (PFDoDA) and FOSA. Additional studies on endocrine, immunological, and metabolic effects of PFAS in marine fish are essential to assess the environmental risk of these substances. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:300-309.

Occurrence, Profile, and Potential Risks of Novel and Legacy Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Bullfrogs: Pilot Study in an Intensive Aquaculture Region, China

“…Short-chain polyfluoroalkyl substances were found in high concentration among most water samples, reaching 97%, while long-chain polyfluoroalkyl substances only accounted for 3%. The shortchain PFASs played a crucial part in water samples, in contrast to the different conclusions from previous reports several years ago (Kelly, 2009;Ahrens et al, 2010;Naile et al, 2010;Schultes et al, 2020). It was reported that short-chain PFASs had a high detection level in recent years, which was consistent with these studies (Xu et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2016a;Li et al, 2020a).…”

Bioaccumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance in fish from an urban river: Occurrence, patterns and investigation of potential ecological drivers

“…This indicates that PFAS bioaccumulation in European chub was not sex-dependent for the life stages considered in our study (i.e. mostly immature individuals), as observed elsewhere (Gewurtz et al, 2012;Pan et al, 2014;Arinaitwe et al, 2020;Schultes et al, 2020). Here, fish length influence was not significant, while it was an important driver of PFAS bioaccumulation in the cyprinid Barbus barbus from the Rhône River (Babut et al, 2017) or in the common sole Solea solea from the Gironde estuary (Munoz et al, 2017a).…”

PFAS Exposure Pathways for Humans and Wildlife: A Synthesis of Current Knowledge and Key Gaps in Understanding

“…In the Arctic, there are sustained or increasing (post‐2010) PFAA levels in some wildlife (Muir et al 2019). Following the phaseout of the parent chemical to PFOS and its precursors circa 2000 to 2002, several studies have noted rapid declines in FOSA, an atmospheric precursor to PFOS that is biotransformed by most mammals, but less consistent declines or even increases in PFOS (Smithwick et al 2006; Ahrens et al 2009a; Dassuncao et al 2017; Sun et al 2019; Schultes et al 2020). This likely reflects the rapid response of atmospheric concentrations to changes in chemical production but a lagged response of most aquatic ecosystems.…”

“…This likely reflects the rapid response of atmospheric concentrations to changes in chemical production but a lagged response of most aquatic ecosystems. Most time series studies have focused on targeted PFAS, but recent work has shown that trends in total fluorine indicated by EOF and other methods differ from the legacy compounds (Schultes et al 2020). Understanding temporal and spatial trends in emerging PFAS compounds in biota is thus an important research need (Spaan 2020).…”