Tissue-specific concentrations and patterns of perfluoroalkyl carboxylates and sulfonates in East Greenland polar bears.
Several perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs) of varying chain length are bioaccumulative in biota. However, wildlife reports have focused on liver and with very little examination of other tissues, and thus there is a limited understanding of their distribution and potential effects in the mammalian body. In the present study, the comparative accumulation of C(6) to C(15) PFCAs, C(4), C(6), C(8) and C(10) PFSAs, and select precursors were examined in the liver, blood, muscle, adipose, and brain of 20 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Scoresby Sound, Central East Greenland. Overall, PFSA and PFCA concentrations were highest in liver followed by blood > brain > muscle ≈ adipose. Liver and blood samples contained proportionally more of the shorter/medium chain length (C(6) to C(11)) PFCAs, whereas adipose and brain samples were dominated by longer chain (C(13) to C(15)) PFCAs. PFCAs with lower lipophilicities accumulated more in the liver, whereas the brain accumulated PFCAs with higher lipophilicities. The concentration ratios (±SE) between perfluorooctane sulfonate and its precursor perfluorooctane sulfonamide varied among tissues from 9 (±1):1 (muscle) to 36 (±7):1 (liver). PFCA and PFSA patterns in polar bears indicate that the pharmacokinetics of these compounds are to some extent tissue-specific, and are the result of several factors that may include differing protein interactions throughout the body.
Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada , National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada.
Alana K
AK
Greaves
Robert J
RJ
Letcher
Christian
C
Sonne
Rune
R
Dietz
Erik W
EW
Born
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D006116:Greenland; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D001503:Ursidae; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical