title: High levels of perfluoroalkyl acids in sport fish species downstream of a firefighting training facility at Hamilton International Airport, Ontario, Canada.
abstract: A recent study reported elevated concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and other perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in surface water, snapping turtles, and amphipods in Lake Niapenco, downstream of Hamilton International Airport, Ontario, Canada. Here, our goals were to 1) determine the extent of PFAA contamination in sport fish species collected downstream of the airport, 2) explore if the airport could be a potential source, and 3) compare fish PFOS concentrations to consumption advisory benchmarks. The PFOS levels in several sport fish collected from the three locations closest to the airport (<40km) were among the highest previously published in the peer-reviewed literature and also tended to exceed consumption benchmarks. The only other fish that had comparable concentrations were collected in a region affected by inputs from a major fluorinated chemical production facility. In contrast, PFOS concentrations in the two most downstream locations (>70km) were comparable to or below the average concentrations in fish as observed in the literature and were generally below the benchmarks. With regards to perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs), there was no significant decrease in concentrations in fish with distance from the airport and levels were comparable to or below the average concentrations observed in the literature, suggesting that the airport is not a significant source of PFCAs in these fish species. PFOS-based aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) was used at a firefighting training facility at the airport in the 1980s to mid-1990s. Taken together, our results provide evidence that the historical use of AFFF at the airport has resulted in fish PFOS concentrations that exceed the 95th percentile concentration of values reported in the literature to date.
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada.
authors.forename: Sarah B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Gewurtz
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada; Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada; School of the Environment, 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: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petro
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Chris G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Mahon
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morse
authors.affiliation: Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto, ON M9P 3V6, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Reiner
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L2, Canada.
authors.forename: Sheryl A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tittlemier
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L2, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Braekevelt
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drouillard
mesh_terms: D059028:Airports; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D060106:Lakes; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry*; D009864:Ontario; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid
keywords: Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF); Fish consumption advisories; Human fish consumers; Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS); Sport fish