Novel and legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in freshwater sporting fish from background and firefighting foam impacted ecosystems in Eastern Canada

Hermann A Kaboré; Ken Goeury; Mélanie Desrosiers; Sung Vo Duy; Jinxia Liu; Gilbert Cabana; Gabriel Munoz; Sébastien Sauvé

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151563

Novel and legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in freshwater sporting fish from background and firefighting foam impacted ecosystems in Eastern Canada

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Apr 10:816:151563. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151563. Epub 2021 Nov 8.

Authors

Hermann A Kaboré¹, Ken Goeury¹, Mélanie Desrosiers², Sung Vo Duy¹, Jinxia Liu³, Gilbert Cabana⁴, Gabriel Munoz¹, Sébastien Sauvé⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal (UdeM), Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.
² Centre d'expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec (CEAEQ), Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, Québec City, QC G1P 3W8, Canada.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada.
⁴ Département des Sciences de l'Environnement, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal (UdeM), Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada. Electronic address: sebastien.sauve@umontreal.ca.

PMID: 34762942
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151563

Abstract

Emerging PFAS were recently reported at sites impacted by aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) and near major manufacturing centers; however, few studies have evaluated whether these can occur far from release sites. Here, newly identified PFAS were investigated in wild sporting fish from boreal freshwater ecosystems (background sites, 2013-2014 summer seasons), compared to fish impacted by a major AFFF release (summer 2013 and autumn 2014). Different freshwater wild sporting fish species (Esox lucius, Esox masquinongy, Micropterus dolomieu, Sander vitreus, Perca flavescens, and Semotilus corporalis, n = 74) were collected from 13 ecosystems (lakes, reservoirs, and rivers) across Eastern Canada. Of 29 quantitative PFAS, 15 compounds were detected in fish from background sites, including perfluorocarboxylates (C_6,8_-₁₄), perfluoroalkane sulfonates (C_6,8,10), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTSA), 7:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (7:3 FTCA), and a zwitterionic PFAS-perfluorooctane sulfonamidoalkyl betaine (PFOSB). To our knowledge, this is the first report of PFOSB in biota. It is also one of the first reports of anionic fluorotelomers (6:2 FTSA, 7:3 FTCA, 9:3 FTCA) in wildlife from background sites. Long-chain fluorotelomer sulfonamidoalkyl betaines (e.g., 8:2 and 10:2 FTAB), fluorotelomer betaines (e.g., 9:3 and 9:1:2 FTB), and fluorotelomer sulfone propanoic acids (e.g., 8:2 FT(SO₂)-PA, 10:2 FT(SO₂)-PA)) were solely prevalent (up to 97% of summed suspect PFAS) in Smallmouth Bass (M. dolomieu) from the AFFF-impacted site. Perfluorobutane sulfonamide (FBSA), perfluorohexane sulfonamide (FHxSA), 6:2 FTSA and 7:3 FTCA were detected in at least one Smallmouth Bass sample both at the AFFF-impacted and background sites. According to the estimated chronic daily intake and current tolerable daily intake suggested by national agencies, the observed PFOS levels would not pose a health risk to anglers who might consume these wild-caught fish.

Keywords: AFFFs; Background sites; FTAB; Human health risks; PFAS; PFOSB; Sporting fish.

MeSH terms

Animals
Ecosystem
Fluorocarbons* / analysis
Lakes
Rivers
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Fluorocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical