Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Parolini, Marco
• Cappelli, Francesca
• De Felice, Beatrice
• Possenti, Cristina Daniela
• Rubolini, Diego
• Valsecchi, Sara
• Polesello, Stefano

Titel

Within‐ and Among‐Clutch Variation of Yolk Perfluoroalkyl Acids in a Seabird from the Northern Adriatic Sea

Ist Teil von

• Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 2021-03, Vol.40 (3), p.744-753

Ort / Verlag

United States: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are surface‐active agents used in diverse industrial and commercial applications. They contaminate both freshwater and marine ecosystems, are highly persistent, and accumulate through trophic transfer. Seabirds are exposed to environmental contaminants due to their high trophic position in food webs and relatively long lifespan. We measured levels of 10 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in egg yolks of yellow‐legged gulls (Larus michahellis) breeding in the northern Adriatic Sea (Northeast Italy). We examined variations in PFAAs within clutches (between eggs of different laying order) and among clutches. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the most abundant yolk PFAA (mean = 42.0 ng/g wet wt), followed by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; 3.8 ng/g wet wt) and perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDa; 2.8 ng/g wet wt). The ∑PFAAs averaged 57.4 ng/g wet weight, ranging between 26.5 and 115.0 ng/g wet weight. The PFAA levels varied substantially among clutches (0.29–0.79 of the total variation), whereas the effects of laying order were considerably weaker (0.01–0.13). Egg‐laying order effects were detected for ∑PFAAs, PFOS, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA), and PFDoDa, whereby the last‐laid eggs exhibited lower PFAA concentrations than early‐laid eggs. Our results indicate that seagulls from the northern Adriatic basin deposit measurable amounts of PFAAs in their eggs. The large among‐clutches differences in PFAAs suggest that exposure of yellow‐legged gull females to these compounds is highly variable. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:744–753. © 2020 SETAC