Tissue Distribution of Perfluorinated Surfactants in Common Guillemot (Uria aalge) from the Baltic Sea

Abstract

Perfluorinated alkyl surfactants (PFAS) were investigated in tissues and organs of the common guillemot (Uria aalge) from the Baltic Sea. Concentrations of 11 perfluorinated carboxylates, four perfluorinated sulfonates, and perfluorooctane sulfonamide were determined in egg, liver, kidney, and muscle of adult guillemot, as well as in liver from chicks, all sampled in 1989. Additionally, whole herring homogenates from 2005 were analyzed, herring comprising a large part of guillemot's diet. Quantifiable concentrations of PFAS were found in all samples. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was predominant, followed by perfluorotridecanoate (PFTriDA) and perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA). The median concentration of PFOS was highest in eggs (325 ng/g wet weight (w wt)) followed by chick liver (309 ng/g w wt), kidney (127 ng/g w wt), adult liver (121 ng/g w wt), and muscle (14 ng/g w wt). Comparatively low levels of PFOS were found in herring, leaving a blurred picture of uptake routes. PFAS concentrations in livers of male and female guillemots did not differ significantly. Some PFAS showed higher concentrations in eggs than in female livers. The ratio of levels in egg/female liver, indicating mother-to-egg transfer capacity, increased with increasing PFAS chain length. PFOS showed a higher tendency for transfer than carboxylates of carbon chain lengths C9-C13.