Comparative tissue and body compartment accumulation and maternal transfer to eggs of perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and carboxylates in Great Lakes herring gulls

Abstract

The comparative accumulation of C(4)-C(15) perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs) and carboxylates (PFCAs), and several precursors (e.g., perfluorooctane sulfonamide, N-methyl-FOSA, and fluorotelomer unsaturated acids and alcohols) was examined in tissues (liver, brain, muscle, and adipose), plasma/red blood cells (RBCs) and whole egg clutches (yolk and albumen) of female herring gulls collected in 2010 from Chantry Island, Lake Huron of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Highest mean ∑PFSA concentrations were in yolk, followed by adipose, liver, plasma, muscle, RBCs, and brain. Highest mean ∑PFCA concentrations were in yolk, followed by brain, plasma, liver, RBC, adipose and muscle. PFOS accounted for >88% of ∑PFSA in all samples; the liver, plasma/RBCs, muscle and adipose PFCA patterns were dominated by C(8)-C(11) PFCAs, whereas C(10)-C(15) PFCAs in brain and yolk. Among PFSAs and PFCAs there is tissue-specific accumulation, which could be due to a number of pharmacokinetic processes.