Perfluoroalkylsulfonic and carboxylic acids in earthworms (Eisenia fetida): Accumulation and effects results from spiked soils at PFAS concentrations bracketing environmental relevance

Adcharee Karnjanapiboonwong; Sanjit K Deb; Seenivasan Subbiah; Degeng Wang; Todd A Anderson

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.02.027

Perfluoroalkylsulfonic and carboxylic acids in earthworms (Eisenia fetida): Accumulation and effects results from spiked soils at PFAS concentrations bracketing environmental relevance

Chemosphere. 2018 May:199:168-173. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.02.027. Epub 2018 Feb 7.

Authors

Adcharee Karnjanapiboonwong¹, Sanjit K Deb², Seenivasan Subbiah³, Degeng Wang⁴, Todd A Anderson⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Electronic address: adcharee.karnjanapiboonwong@ttu.edu.
² Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Box 42122, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Electronic address: sanjit.deb@ttu.edu.
³ Department of Environmental Toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Electronic address: seenivasan.subbiah@ttu.edu.
⁴ Department of Environmental Toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Electronic address: degeng.wang@ttu.edu.
⁵ Department of Environmental Toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH), Texas Tech University, Box 41163, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Electronic address: todd.anderson@ttu.edu.

PMID: 29438943
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.02.027

Abstract

Effects of perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA) on earthworms (Eisenia fetida) in soils contaminated with these compounds at 0.1, 1, 10, 1,000, and 100,000 μg kg^-1 dry weight, covering concentration levels found in background, biosolid-amended, and facility-surrounding soils, were investigated. Earthworms were exposed to spiked soil for 21 days. Concentrations of these compounds in earthworms after 21-d exposure ranged from below detection to 127 mg kg^-1 wet weight with the rank order of PFNA > PFHxS > PFHpA > PFBS; no mortality of earthworms was observed in all treatments including controls, except PFBS at 1,000 μg kg^-1 and all PFASs at 100,000 μg kg^-1. The highest weight loss (29%) was observed for earthworms exposed to PFNA at 100,000 μg kg^-1, which was significantly different from all other treatments except PFHpA at 100,000 μg kg^-1. These results are expected to fill some data gaps in toxicity of PFASs in terrestrial environments and provide helpful information on the potential for trophic transport of PFASs from soil to higher organisms.

Keywords: Accumulation; PFBS; PFHpA; PFHxS; PFNA; Toxicity.

MeSH terms

Animals
Carboxylic Acids / analysis
Carboxylic Acids / toxicity*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Fluorocarbons / analysis
Fluorocarbons / toxicity*
Models, Theoretical
Oligochaeta / chemistry
Oligochaeta / drug effects*
Soil / chemistry
Soil Pollutants / analysis
Soil Pollutants / toxicity*
Sulfonic Acids / analysis
Sulfonic Acids / toxicity*

Substances

Carboxylic Acids
Fluorocarbons
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Sulfonic Acids

Grants and funding

R15 GM122006/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States