Investigation of the spatial variability of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance trophic magnification in selected riverine ecosystems

Caroline Simmonet-Laprade; Hélène Budzinski; Marc Babut; Karyn Le Menach; Gabriel Munoz; Mathilde Lauzent; Benoît J D Ferrari; Pierre Labadie

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.461

Investigation of the spatial variability of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance trophic magnification in selected riverine ecosystems

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Oct 10:686:393-401. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.461. Epub 2019 Jun 4.

Authors

Caroline Simmonet-Laprade¹, Hélène Budzinski², Marc Babut³, Karyn Le Menach², Gabriel Munoz¹, Mathilde Lauzent¹, Benoît J D Ferrari⁴, Pierre Labadie⁵

Affiliations

¹ Univ. Bordeaux, EPOC, UMR 5805, LPTC research group, F-33400 Talence, France.
² CNRS, EPOC, UMR 5805, LPTC research group, F-33400 Talence, France.
³ Irstea, Irstea, RIVERLY Research Unit, Lyon-Villeurbanne Center, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, F-69625 Villeurbanne, France.
⁴ Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology, EPFL ENAC IIE-GE, Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁵ CNRS, EPOC, UMR 5805, LPTC research group, F-33400 Talence, France. Electronic address: pierre.labadie@u-bordeaux.fr.

PMID: 31181525
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.461

Abstract

The occurrence at different trophic levels of 17 poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and some of their precursors (e.g., perfluoroalkane sulfonamides, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTSA)), was investigated in riverine freshwater food webs in Southeastern France. Two fish species (Barbus barbus and Squalius cephalus) and various invertebrate taxa were collected in five rivers to assess the spatial variability of trophic magnification factors (TMFs). Particular attention was devoted to sample and data processing to minimize potential biases associated with the TMF determination. Fish were significantly more contaminated than invertebrates (ΣPFAS = 7-1811 vs. 0.9-213 ng g^-1 wet weight (ww)). Those from the Rhône River presented significantly higher levels due to high concentrations of perfluoroundecanoic acid (406 ng g^-1 ww) and perfluorotridecanoic acid (566 ng g^-1 ww) ascribed to an industrial point source. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was dominant at the other sites (concentration range = 3.6-134 ng g^-1 ww). Two linear regression models were compared (i.e., Kendall regression vs. Generalized Linear Mixed-Effect Model, GLMM). Results showed that TMFs calculated using the non-weighted Kendall regression were higher than those obtained using the GLMM approach. GLMM-based TMFs were consistently >1 for C₉-C₁₄ perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), PFOS and perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS), indicating their apparent biomagnification in the investigated food webs. Comparatively, 6:2 FTSA and N-ethylperfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acid (N-EtFOSAA) were less often detected and were not significantly biomagnified, probably because of metabolization. TMF estimates were generally consistent across sites although some PFASs (in particular C₉, C₁₀ and C₁₃ PFCAs) displayed higher variability, due to a unique extreme value that may have resulted from the contribution of unattributed precursor biotransformation.

Keywords: Biotransformation; PFASs; River; Spatial variability; Trophic magnification factors.

MeSH terms

Alkanesulfonic Acids / analysis
Ecosystem*
Environmental Monitoring*
Fatty Acids / analysis
Fluorocarbons / analysis
Food Chain
Rivers
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Alkanesulfonic Acids
Fatty Acids
Fluorocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical
perfluoroundecanoic acid
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid