Sublethal Effects of Dermal Exposure to Poly‐ and Perfluoroalkyl Substances on Postmetamorphic Amphibians

Abercrombie, Sarah A.; Perre, Chloé de; Iacchetta, Michael; Flynn, R. Wesley; Sepúlveda, Marı́a S.; Lee, Linda; Hoverman, Jason T.

doi:10.1002/etc.4711

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…A recent study has been conducted also for skin exposure to PFCs, occurring through contact with dry moss containing PFAS at 0, 80, 800, and 8000 ppb. The survival and growth of toads (Anaxyrus americanus), salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum), and frogs (Rana pipiens), and effects on the final length of the muzzle (SVL), on the mass index of the scale (SMI), and the measurements of the relative body conditions, have been demonstrated and varied by species and compound [149].…”

Section: Amphibiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioaccumulation, Biodistribution, Toxicology and Biomonitoring of Organofluorine Compounds in Aquatic Organisms

Savoca

Pace

2021

IJMS

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This review is a survey of recent advances in studies concerning the impact of poly- and perfluorinated organic compounds in aquatic organisms. After a brief introduction on poly- and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) features, an overview of recent monitoring studies is reported illustrating ranges of recorded concentrations in water, sediments, and species. Besides presenting general concepts defining bioaccumulative potential and its indicators, the biodistribution of PFCs is described taking in consideration different tissues/organs of the investigated species as well as differences between studies in the wild or under controlled laboratory conditions. The potential use of species as bioindicators for biomonitoring studies are discussed and data are summarized in a table reporting the number of monitored PFCs and their total concentration as a function of investigated species. Moreover, biomolecular effects on taxonomically different species are illustrated. In the final paragraph, main findings have been summarized and possible solutions to environmental threats posed by PFCs in the aquatic environment are discussed.

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Section: Amphibiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioaccumulation, Biodistribution, Toxicology and Biomonitoring of Organofluorine Compounds in Aquatic Organisms

Savoca

Pace

2021

IJMS

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“…Variation among species and groups of amphibians in our acute exposures could lead to uncertainty in ERAs for amphibians if all species, or even groups of amphibians, are considered to respond similarly. Given the considerable variation in responses in our study and a previous sublethal exposure study with amphibians (Abercrombie et al 2020), our ability to predict risk of amphibian assemblages to PFAS could be limited. Combining phylogenetic approaches with ecotoxicology could be useful to predict responses of a large number of amphibian species to PFAS and identify trends among amphibian groups as has been done for other contaminants (Relyea and Jones 2009; Guénard et al 2011; Egea‐Serrano et al 2012; Chiari et al 2015; Brady et al 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…It is also unknown whether species‐specific differences in PFAS sensitivity are influential only during aquatic larval stages or if they persist after metamorphosis and influence population dynamics. Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances can have sublethal effects on postmetamorphic amphibians (Abercrombie et al 2020), and experimental designs should therefore extend across metamorphosis and the biphasic life cycle of amphibians (i.e., from larval to adult life stages) to investigate accumulative effects of PFAS.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concentrations of PFOS and PFOA that were toxic to larval amphibians in our study were much higher than median (2.17 and 0.38 µg/L, respectively) and maximum (8970 and 210 µg/L, respectively) concentrations of PFAS in surface waters in the United States at contaminated sites (Anderson et al 2016). However, evidence is accumulating that chronic exposures to environmentally relevant PFAS concentrations can have detrimental effects on amphibian growth and development (Abercrombie et al 2020; Flynn et al 2020). Our findings should help inform ERAs and risk assessment modeling (Conder et al 2021), aid with the experimental design of chronic toxicity studies with amphibians, and provide benchmarks for toxicity of PFAS to a wide range of amphibian species, thereby enhancing mitigation and remediation efforts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We studied 9 amphibian species native to, and widely distributed throughout, eastern and central North America (Table 1). We collected egg masses from wetlands in Indiana (Supporting Information Table S1) and reared them outdoors in 200‐L low‐density polyethylene stock tanks filled with 150 L of aged well water, as described in Abercrombie et al (2020) and Flynn et al (2020), at the Purdue Wildlife Area in West Lafayette, Indiana. Concentrations of PFAS in well water were below limits of quantification in previous studies from our research group (∼0.22 μg/L; Hoover et al 2017; Abercrombie et al 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relative acute toxicity of three per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances on nine species of larval amphibians

Tornabene

Chislock

Gannon

et al. 2021

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread, persistent environmental pollutants known to elicit a wide range of negative effects on wildlife species. There is scarce information regarding the toxicity of PFAS on amphibians, but amphibians may be highly susceptible because of their permeable skin and dependence on fresh water. Acute toxicity studies are a first step toward understanding responses to PFAS exposure, providing benchmarks for species‐specific tolerances, informing ecological risk assessment (ERA), and designing chronic toxicity studies. We conducted standardized 96‐h lethal concentration (LC50) toxicity tests for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) with 9 widely distributed amphibian species native to eastern and central North America. We also conducted LC50 tests with perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) for 2 species and determined whether toxicity of PFOS and PFOA varied between life stages for 3 species. Acute toxicity varied among PFAS and species and between developmental stages within species. Across all species, toxicity of PFOS was more than 8× higher than PFOA. Salamanders in the genus Ambystoma were generally more sensitive to PFOS than were anurans (frogs and a toad). Toxicity of PFOA was highest for small‐mouthed salamanders and gray tree frogs and lowest for Jefferson salamanders, American bullfrogs, green frogs, and wood frogs. Although only 2 species were exposed to PFHxS, survival was lower for green frogs than for American bullfrogs. Toxicity of PFAS also varied between developmental stages of larvae. Gray tree frogs were more sensitive at later developmental stages, and small‐mouthed salamanders were more sensitive at earlier developmental stages. Our study is one of the first to report species‐, developmental stage‐, and compound‐specific differences in sensitivity to PFAS across a wide range of amphibian species. The benchmarks for toxicity we determined can inform conservation and remediation efforts, guide chronic toxicity studies, and help predict influences on amphibian communities, thereby informing future ERAs for PFAS. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:684–689. © 2021 SETAC

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Comparative Toxicity of Aquatic Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposure in Three Species of Amphibians

Flynn

Hoover

Iacchetta

et al. 2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

Self Cite

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Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are contaminants of concern due to their widespread occurrence in the environment, persistence, and potential to elicit a range of negative health effects. Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances are regularly detected in surface waters, but their effects on many aquatic organisms are still poorly understood. Species with thyroid-dependent development, like amphibians, can be especially susceptible to PFAS effects on thyroid hormone regulation. We examined sublethal effects of aquatic exposure to four commonly detected PFAS on larval northern leopard frogs (Rana [Lithobates] pipiens), American toads (Anaxyrus americanus), and eastern tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). Animals were exposed for 30 days (frogs and salamanders) or until metamorphosis (toads) to 10, 100, or 1000 μg/L of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), or 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS). We determined that chronic exposure to common PFAS can negatively affect amphibian body condition and development at concentrations as low as 10 µg/L. These effects were highly species dependent, with species having prolonged larval development (frogs and salamanders) being more sensitive to PFAS than more rapidly developing species (toads). Our results demonstrate that some species could experience sublethal effects at sites with surface waters highly affected by PFAS. Our results also indicate that evaluating PFAS toxicity using a single species may not be sufficient for accurate amphibian risk assessment. Future studies are needed to determine whether these differences in susceptibility can be predicted from species' life histories and whether more commonly occurring environmental levels of PFAS could affect amphibians.

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Sublethal Effects of Dermal Exposure to Poly‐ and Perfluoroalkyl Substances on Postmetamorphic Amphibians

Cited by 25 publications

References 79 publications

Bioaccumulation, Biodistribution, Toxicology and Biomonitoring of Organofluorine Compounds in Aquatic Organisms

Bioaccumulation, Biodistribution, Toxicology and Biomonitoring of Organofluorine Compounds in Aquatic Organisms

Relative acute toxicity of three per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances on nine species of larval amphibians

Comparative Toxicity of Aquatic Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposure in Three Species of Amphibians

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