title: Cooking fish is not effective in reducing exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
abstract: Consumption of fish is considered a part of a healthy diet; however, health risks from fish consumption exist due to potential exposure to various contaminants accumulated in fish. Cooking fish can reduce exposure to many organic chemicals in fish. Similar results have been presented for low levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), a class of contaminants of emerging concern, in grocery store fish. We examined the effectiveness of three cooking methods (i.e., baking, broiling, and frying) on reducing PFAS levels in four sport fish species. Samples of Chinook salmon, common carp, lake trout and walleye were collected from four rivers in Ontario, Canada and skin-off fillets were analyzed for regular groups of PFASs such as perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs), as well as perfluoroalkyl phosphonic acids (PFPAs), perfluoroalkyl phosphinic acids (PFPIAs) and polyfluoroalkyl phosphoric acid diesters (diPAPs), which are PFASs of emerging concern. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the dominant PFAS detected and the concentrations were more than an order of magnitude higher than those reported for fish from grocery stores in Canada, Spain, and China. Although concentrations of PFOS in fish fillets generally increase after cooking, amounts of PFOS largely remain unchanged. Relatively minor differences in changes in the fish PFAS amounts after cooking depended on fish species and cooking method used. We conclude that cooking sport fish is generally not an effective approach to reduce dietary exposure to PFASs, especially PFOS.
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada; University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E8, Canada. Electronic address: satyendra.bhavsar@ontario.ca.
authors.forename: Satyendra P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Bhavsar
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E8, Canada.
authors.forename: Xianming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L2, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Braekevelt
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petro
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E8, Canada.
authors.forename: Nilima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada; University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E8, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Reiner
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L2, Canada.
authors.forename: Roni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bronson
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L2, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheryl A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tittlemier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D003296:Cooking / Q000592:standards*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005399:Fishes; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Cooking; Emerging contaminant; Fish consumption; Great Lakes; PFOS; Perfluoroalkyl substances