Spatiotemporal Analysis of Perfluoroalkyl Substances in White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) Nestlings from Northern Norway—A Ten-Year Study

Abstract

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Scandinavia has suffered from impaired reproduction due to high exposure to industrial pollution between the 1960s and 1980s. While population numbers are rising again, new contaminants, such as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are increasingly found in high trophic avifauna and are of concern to potentially impact once again population health. In the present study, we examined PFAS levels in plasma of white-tailed eagle nestlings from northern Norway over the last decade (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017). While PFOA and PFNA exposure did not follow a significant time trend, PFOS and PFHxS concentrations decreased over time, and ≥C11 perfluorinated carboxylic acids only seem to level-off during the last four years. This may in fact be the first evidence for a change in the trend for some of these compounds. Furthermore, since several PFAS are expected to be highly present in aqueous film forming foams used at airports, we also investigate the potential of the two main airports in the region to act as hotspots for PFAS. Our results indeed show decreasing exposure to PFOA with distance to the airports. Altogether, our results seem to show that legislation actions are effective, continued concern for PFAS exposure of high trophic wildlife is still warranted, even in the northern environment.

Temporal Trends of Organochlorine and Perfluorinated Contaminants in a Terrestrial Raptor in Northern Europe Over 34 years (1986–2019)

“…However, PFOS is still used in some products, which may account for the relatively slower decline. The reported decline is in line with other studies from Scandinavia investigating both terrestrial and marine species (Holmström et al, 2010;Jouanneau et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2019). For both PFHxS and PFHpS, there were indications of a decline until 2009 (Ahrens et al, 2011), but only for PFHpS did this continue when including data for the last decade (Figure 4 and Supporting Information, Table S3).…”

“…Furthermore, we demonstrated that the previously observed decline in PFOS continued, suggesting that banning the use of these compounds efficiently reduced their environmental concentrations. However, this appears to have had little impact on the PFCAs so far, a global phenomenon reported for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments (Braune & Letcher, 2013;Holmström et al, 2010;Jouanneau et al, 2020;Route et al, 2014;Sun et al, 2019).…”

“…Moreover, the Stockholm Convetion listed PFOS in its Annex B in 2009. Subsequently, several bird studies have found decreasing temporal trends of PFOS (Ahrens et al, 2011; Holmström et al, 2010; Jouanneau et al, 2020; Sun et al, 2019). Still, PFOS is used in many products, and some studies have failed to document declining trends (e.g., Park et al, 2021).…”

Profiling Research on PFAS in Wildlife: Protocol of a Systematic Evidence Map and Bibliometric Analysis

“…Thus, PFAS burdens in wildlife are expected to re ect those of their habitat, however there is some uncertainty in these patterns (compared to patterns in humans). Depending on the geographical region and species, longitudinal studies have provided con icting reports on trends in PFAS abundance in wildlife and the natural environment over the past 20 years [43][44][45].…”

Profiling research on PFAS in wildlife: Protocol of a systematic evidence map and bibliometric analysis

“…While PFAS burdens in wildlife are expected to reflect those of their habitat, there is some uncertainty in these patterns (compared to patterns in humans). Depending on the geographical region and species, longitudinal studies have provided conflicting reports on trends in PFAS presence in wildlife and the natural environment over the past 20 years (Jouanneau et al, 2020;Rigét et al, 2013;Shaw et al, 2009).…”