PFAS are known to bioaccumulate and biomagnify within the environment, yet there is a large data gap on effects on higher-order animals that live in or rely on these aquatic ecosystems, such as turtles. The results presented here are part of a larger study investigating the impacts of PFAS on freshwater turtles.
The study was conducted at an impact, control, and reference site. Water sampling was conducted over three years at the impact site, and PFAS signatures and concentrations were relatively stable over this time. Five perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and seven perfluoroalkane carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were reported in the water in contrast to the same five PFSAs and only four of the seven PFCAs in the blood serum.
PFOS was the dominant PFAS in all the organs. BAFs were calculated for blood, liver, kidney, heart, ovary, muscle and fat for female turtles and blood for male turtles. The highest BAFs were found in ovary tissue at all three sites. BAF values decreased in the following order: kidney > liver > heart > blood > fat > muscle. A log-linear relationship between BAF and chain length for the long-chain PFSAs was found at the impact site, whereas no pattern was found for the PFCAs. Short-chain PFSAs and FASAs appeared to be associated with blood; when organ concentrations were adjusted for organ blood content these compounds were absent.
Long-chain PFSAs and PFCAs were partitioned preferentially to the ovary where they were transferred to the yolks. The amount of each PFAS in eggs and hatchlings was calculated and it was found that 50% of PFHxS and 100% of PFHpS, PFOS, PFNS, PFDS, PFDA and PFUDA were transferred to the hatchlings from the yolk, indicating a potential for intergenerational impacts.