title: Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated compounds in lake food webs from the Canadian high Arctic.
abstract: Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) enter Arctic lakes through long-range atmospheric transport and local contamination, but their behavior in aquatic food webs at high latitudes is poorly understood. This study compared the concentrations of perfluorocarboxylates, perfluorosulfonates, and fluorotelomer sulfonates (FTS) in biotic and abiotic samples from six high Arctic lakes near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Two of these lakes are known to be locally contaminated by a small airport and Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from these lakes had over 100 times higher total [PFAS] when compared to fish from neighboring lakes. Perfluorononanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) dominated in char, benthic chironomids (their main prey), and sediments, while pelagic zooplankton and water were dominated by lower chain acids and perfluorodecanesulfonate (PFDS). This study also provides the first measures of perfluoroethylcyclohexanesulfonate (PFECHS) and FTS compounds in water, sediment, juvenile char, and benthic invertebrates from lakes in the high Arctic. Negative relationships between [PFAS] and δ(15)N values (indicative of trophic position) within these food webs indicated no biomagnification. Overall, these results suggest that habitat use and local sources of contamination, but not trophic level, are important determinants of [PFAS] in biota from freshwater food webs in the Canadian Arctic.
authors.affiliation: University of New Brunswick , Biology Department and the Canadian Rivers Institute, 100 Tucker Park Rd, Saint John, New Brunswick E2L 4A6, Canada.
authors.forename: Gretchen L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Lescord
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Amila O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: De Silva
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Xiaowa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Derek C G
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Muir
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001110:Arctic Regions; D002170:Canada; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D020387:Food Chain; D006845:Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated / Q000737:chemistry*; D007448:Invertebrates; D060106:Lakes; D020957:Nunavut; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis; D015048:Zooplankton
chemical_list: D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers; D006845:Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C040402:perfluorosulfonic acid