Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid in bib (Trisopterus luscus) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) from the Western Scheldt and the Belgian North Sea: Distribution and biochemical effects

Abstract

A biomonitoring campaign was conducted in the Belgian North Sea and in the Western Scheldt (The Netherlands) with the primary goal to assess perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) contamination and distribution in different biota. This study covers the results obtained for bib (Trisopterus luscus) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and includes the assessment of some stress-related biochemical endpoints. Analysis of liver and muscle PFOS concentrations of both species provided evidence for the existence of a PFOS pollution gradient along the Western Scheldt with higher levels at the upstream locations and a lower degree of PFOS pollution at the marine locations. Cellular necrosis was studied by measuring aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in the serum. Serum ALT but not serum AST was shown to correlate positively with the PFOS liver concentration in bib (r = 0.44, p < 0.05), indicating that PFOS might contribute to the induction of hepatic damage in bib in the area of study. Analysis of total carbohydrate, lipid, and protein content of bib liver tissue revealed a positive correlation between the protein content and the PFOS liver concentration (r = 0.55, p < 0.01). Whether this is due to induction of compensatory mechanisms, detoxification, or repair processes remains unclear.

PFOS induced lipid metabolism disturbances in BALB/c mice through inhibition of low density lipoproteins excretion

“…Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a ubiquitous perfluorinated compound with a variety of uses in both industrial and consumer products, leading to its increased global exposure123. It can now be detected in the liver and blood of fish, birds and mammals, even in human serum and milk2456.…”

Estrogen-Like Properties of Fluorotelomer Alcohols as Revealed by MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation

“…For a long time, these fluorinated chemicals were considered metabolically inert and nontoxic (Sargent and Seffl 1970). However, environmental monitoring has shown that degradation to persistent molecules does happen on a large scale, as deduced from the worldwide distribution of compounds such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexanesulfonate, and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (Dimitrov et al 2004; Dinglasan et al 2004; Giesy et al 2001; Hoff et al 2003a, 2003b; Martin et al 2004). Martin et al (2004), for instance, describe fluorotelomer alcohols as potential sources of perfluorinated acids in regions as remote as the Arctic.…”

Toxicological Effects of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

“…PFOS measured in sea otter livers ) and grey seal livers (Kannan et al 2002b ) showed signifi cantly higher concentrations of PFOS in the male liver samples compared with the female samples. In contrast, female porpoise livers from the North Sea showed signifi cantly higher mean concentrations of PFOS compared to the male porpoises ( Van de Vijver et al 2003 ).…”

“…The highest concentrations of PFOS were reported in liver (Hoff et al 2003 ;Moody et al 2001 ;Taniyasu et al 2003 ), muscle (Delinsky et al 2010 ), or whole body (Ye et al 2008b ) of the studied fi sh. When the muscle of sardines and anchovies were analyzed for PFAAs in a study by Fernandez-Sanjuan et al ( 2010 ), no detectable levels of PFAAs were measured, but when whole body fi sh were analyzed, PFOS was found.…”

“…In addition, saltwater and freshwater fi sh throughout central and northern (non-Arctic) Europe have been studied for PFAA contamination (Falandysz et al 2007 ;Fernández-Sanjuan et al 2010 ;Hoff et al 2003 ;Holzer et al 2011 ;Kwadijk et al 2010 ;Rüdel et al 2011 ;Schuetze et al 2010 ).…”