Tissue-Specific Distribution of Legacy and Novel Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Juvenile Seabirds

Abstract

Of the thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment, few have been investigated in detail. In this study, we analyzed 36 legacy and emerging PFAS in multiple seabird tissues collected from individuals from Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Bay, and the Cape Fear River Estuary. PFOS was the dominant compound across multiple tissues, while long-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) dominated in brain (mean = 44% of total concentrations). Emerging perfluoroalkyl ether acids (PFEAs)Nafion byproduct-2 and PFO5DoDAwere detected in greater than 90% of tissues in birds obtained from a nesting region downstream from a major fluorochemical production site. Compound ratios, relative body burden calculations, and electrostatic surface potential calculations were used to describe partitioning behavior of PFEAs in different tissues. Novel PFEAs preferentially partition into blood compared to liver and were documented in brain for the first time. PFO5DoDA showed a reduced preference for brain compared to PFCAs and Nafion BP2. These results suggest future monitoring efforts and toxicological studies should focus on novel PFAS and long-chain PFCAs in multiple tissues beyond liver and blood, while exploring the unique binding mechanisms driving uptake of multi-ether PFEAs.

Blood Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances are Associated with Autoimmunity-like Effects in the American Alligator

“…As anticipated from previous wildlife exposure studies along the Cape Fear River, PFOS was the dominant PFAS detected in alligator serum (Guillette et al 2020; Robuck et al 2021) We detected PFOS in 100% of samples analyzed and it accounted for 79.7% and 75.8% of the total PFAS present in alligator serum samples from the CFR and LW respectively. The median number of PFAS congeners detected in serum samples from CFR alligators was 10 (range 4-12), whereas a median of 5 (range 2-9) were detected in LW samples (Table S3).…”

“…Recently, total organic fluorine analysis detected extremely high sum PFAS concentrations in excess of 100,000 ng/L in the Cape Fear River at drinking water treatment plant intakes suggesting that humans and aquatic ecosystems in the Cape Fear River basin have been experiencing very high levels of total PFAS exposure (Zhang et al, 2019). The potential for impacts on both ecosystems and human populations from this contamination has been confirmed by wildlife and human population based PFAS exposure studies that found increased levels of PFAS in fish, birds, and humans living near the Cape Fear River (Guillette et al 2020;Kotlarz et al 2020;Robuck et al 2021). The public and environmental health impacts of longterm exposures resulting from undocumented PFAS discharge are largely unknown.…”

A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Impacts of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances on the Brain and Behavior

“…As the brain is most susceptible to penetration by lipophilic compounds, there is cause for concern that some PFAS may elicit considerable neurotoxic effects. In addition, the blood is one of the major compartments in which PFAS partitions, due to the relatively low affinity binding of PFAS to serum albumin ( Maestri et al, 2006 ; Kudo et al, 2007 ; Bogdanska et al, 2011 ; Jackson et al, 2021 ; Robuck et al, 2021 ). Thus, due to the highly vascularized nature of the brain, there is enhanced risk of brain exposure to toxicants found in the blood, including PFAS.…”

Hydrolytically Stable Ionic Fluorogels for High‐Performance Remediation of Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from Natural Water

“…PFAS are known environmental pollutants which contaminate ground and surface water worldwide [4–7] . Many PFAS are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulative, having been detected in human and other animal tissue across the globe, [8–11] and exposure to some PFAS leads to adverse health and environmental outcomes [12–15] …”

“…[1][2][3] PFAS are known environmental pollutants which contaminate ground and surface water worldwide. [4][5][6][7] Many PFAS are persistent in the environment and bioaccumulative, having been detected in human and other animal tissue across the globe, [8][9][10][11] and exposure to some PFAS leads to adverse health and environmental outcomes. [12][13][14][15] The potential health effects of PFAS exposure, along with the expected regulation of these pollutants, has led to increased interest in PFAS remediation technologies.…”