Superfund Research Program
January 2023
Researchers from the University of Rhode Island (URI) SRP Center identified and quantified PFAS in fish. The team aimed to better understand the ability of the chemicals to build up, or bioaccumulate, in freshwater fish to inform fish consumption advisories and decrease human exposure.
PFAS are a large group of human-made chemicals associated with many adverse health effects. PFAS parent compounds, or precursors, can degrade into terminal PFAS, which do not break down further under normal environmental conditions. In this study, researchers investigated precursors of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), which have been widely found in commercial products and environmental samples, such as fish.
The URI scientists used a toolbox of analytical and statistical methods to detect and measure 37 PFAS and their precursors in fish tissue samples from nine freshwater ecosystems in New Hampshire. They also screened for the presence of other precursors in fish muscle tissue.
The researchers found perfluorobutane sulfonamide (FBSA), a PFAA precursor, in all fish samples. They also found perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) — a highly bioaccumulative PFAS that was phased out in 2002 — in most fish samples at high levels. Specifically, all but two fish samples analyzed PFOS levels exceeding the daily recommended consumption limit for adults and about a fifth of samples exceeded the weekly consumption limit.
The authors note that fish consumption advisories are primarily developed for PFOS, but their work indicates that regulatory efforts should consider additional bioaccumulative PFAS, including PFAA precursors like FBSA.
To learn more, please refer to the following sources:- Pickard HM, Ruyle BJ, Thackray CP, Chovancova A, Dassuncao C, Becanova J, Vojta S, Lohmann R, Sunderland E. 2022. PFAS and precursor bioaccumulation in freshwater recreational fish: implications for fish advisories. Environ Sci Technol 56(22):15573-15583. doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c03734 PMID:36280234 PMCID:PMC9670858