Legacy and Novel Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Juvenile Seabirds from the U.S. Atlantic Coast

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c01951
• Publication Date: 2020-09-07T19:19:00Z
• Authors: Anna R. Robuck; Mark G. Cantwell; James P. McCord; Lindsay M. Addison; Marisa Pfohl; Mark J. Strynar; Richard McKinney; David R. Katz; David N. Wiley; Rainer Lohmann
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Fluorocarbons; 590; 551; 01 natural sciences; United States; Birds; 03 medical and health sciences; Alkanesulfonic Acids; Massachusetts; Rivers; 13. Climate action; Animals; Humans; 14. Life underwater; Sulfonic Acids; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Environmental Monitoring; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are anthropogenic, globally distributed chemicals. Legacy PFAS, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), have been regularly detected in marine fauna but little is known about their current levels or the presence of novel PFAS seabirds. We measured 36 emerging legacy livers from 31 juvenile seabirds Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Cape Fear River Estuary (CFRE), United States. PFOS was major perfluoroalkyl acid present, making up 58% concentrations observed across all habitats (range: 11-280 ng/g). Novel were confirmed chicks hatched downstream a fluoropolymer production site CFRE: perfluorinated ether sulfonic (Nafion byproduct 2; range: 1-110 ng/g) two carboxylic acids (PFO