Physiological effects of PFAS exposure in seabird chicks: A multi-species study of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, body condition and telomere length in South Western France

M Sebastiano; W Jouanneau; P Blévin; F Angelier; C Parenteau; M Pallud; C Ribout; J Gernigon; J C Lemesle; F Robin; P Pardon; H Budzinski; P Labadie; O Chastel

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165920

Physiological effects of PFAS exposure in seabird chicks: A multi-species study of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, body condition and telomere length in South Western France

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Nov 25:901:165920. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165920. Epub 2023 Jul 30.

Authors

M Sebastiano¹, W Jouanneau², P Blévin³, F Angelier², C Parenteau², M Pallud², C Ribout², J Gernigon⁴, J C Lemesle⁴, F Robin⁵, P Pardon⁶, H Budzinski⁶, P Labadie⁶, O Chastel²

Affiliations

¹ Unité Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, CP32, 7 rue Cuvier, Paris, France; Behavioural Ecology & Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-Univ. La Rochelle, France. Electronic address: Manrico.Sebastiano@uantwerpen.be.
² Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-Univ. La Rochelle, France.
³ Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-Univ. La Rochelle, France; Akvaplan-niva AS, Fram Centre, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
⁴ Réserve Naturelle de Lilleau des Niges, 17880, France.
⁵ Réserve Naturelle de Lilleau des Niges, 17880, France; Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO), 17300 Rochefort, France.
⁶ Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, EPOC, EPHE, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France.

PMID: 37527721
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165920

Abstract

There is growing evidence that poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure leads to the disruption of thyroid hormones including thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), and may affect telomeres, repetitive nucleotide sequences which protect chromosome ends. Many seabird species are long-lived top predators thus exhibit high contaminant levels, and PFAS-disrupting effects on their physiology have been documented especially in relation to the endocrine system in adults. On the contrary, studies on the developmental period (i.e., chicks), during which exposure to environmental contaminants may have a greater impact on physiological traits, remain scarce to this date. We carried out a multi-species study with the aim to assess whether and to which extent chicks of four gull species (herring gull, great and lesser black-backed gull, yellow-legged gull) in South Western France are contaminated by PFAS, and to bring further evidence about their potential physiological consequences. Linear PFOS showed concentrations of concern as it was generally >10 times higher than the other PFAS, and exceeded a threshold toxicity level (calculated from previous studies in birds) in almost all sampled chicks. Nonetheless, in herring gull male chicks, total T3 levels were significantly and negatively associated with perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) and perfluorododecanoate (PFDoDA) and positively associated with perfluorotetradecanoate (PFTeDA) in female chicks. Total T3 levels were also positively associated with PFDoDA in great black backed gull male chicks and with perfluorotridecanoate (PFTrDA) in lesser black backed gull chicks. In lesser and great black-backed gulls, both females and males showed significant negative associations between several PFAS and their body condition, and a positive association between telomere length and L-PFOS in the yellow-legged gull was also found. These results corroborate previous findings and need to be further explored as they suggest that PFAS may interfere with the physiological status of chicks during the developmental period, potentially inducing long-lasting consequences.

Keywords: Contaminants; PFAS; Physiology; Seabirds; Telomeres; Thyroid hormones.