Superfund Research Program

Model Predicts PFAS Buildup in Wild Animals

Release Date: 01/08/2025

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Highlights

  • Researchers developed a model that estimates PFAS accumulation in food webs.
  • Unique characteristics of diverse PFAS that affect accumulation in different species were identified.
  • This information may be useful for screening PFAS for potential ecological and human health risks.
How It Works: The model accounts for different PFAS properties and complex relationships between species in different food webs to predice PFAS accumulation. The image shows a cycle that starts with PFAS, moves to plants, and then moves onto wildlife that eats the plants, and finally the to the wildlife that feeds on the carcasses of other wildlife who consumed the plants.

Research Summary

Researchers funded by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) developed a model that predicts how PFAS move and build up within food webs. The model lays the groundwork for screening the thousands of PFAS compounds that could potentially pose a risk for ecological or human health. PFAS are synthetic chemicals used in consumer products that are ubiquitous on the planet and in some cases harmful to humans and wildlife.

“Current accumulation models don’t accurately estimate PFAS levels because they were designed to assess other types of contaminants with different chemical properties, such as PCBs and pesticides,” said Elsie Sunderland, Ph.D., of Harvard University and project lead for the University of Rhode Island SRP Center. “Our modeling framework needed to be adapted to account for these unique properties.”

Sunderland explained that PFAS are charged particles that tend to gravitate towards protein-rich areas of the body like the kidney, brain, liver, and plasma. PFAS also behave differently based on their type and charge. These unique properties were accounted for in the model to produce a more accurate estimate.

The model also considers features of different animals, such as their size, feeding rate, metabolism, and excretion, and the complex interactions between animals that make up different food webs.

Quantifying PFAS in Canadian Wildlife

To validate their approach, the team tested their model’s predictions in three different food webs against data from laboratory studies and samples collected from plants and animals in the wild.

Their predictions of PFAS accumulation closely mirrored laboratory studies with rainbow trout and field data from the Lake Ontario ecosystem and the entire Canadian Arctic region.

“These regions have been extensively studied,” said Sunderland. “We have a vast amount of data on these ecosystems, food webs, and the levels of PFAS there for validating our model predictions.”

Uncovering New Trends and Questions

The new model predicted that PFOS and longer-chain PFAS compounds would tend to biomagnify in food chains — meaning that the concentrations of these compounds tend to increase from prey to predators. Other PFAS compounds, like GenX and PFHxS, were predicted to have low biomagnification potential in all three food webs. Similar to reported data in the field, the model predicted that land animals would accumulate more PFAS than aquatic ones.

While the authors attribute some of the differences to specific PFAS properties and animal characteristics, there are many questions left to answer.

“With PFAS, there is much that we don't understand about how they behave in the body, how some of them are metabolized, or even how long it takes to eliminate them,” said Sunderland. “This kind of modeling can be very helpful for generating future research questions.”

Impact Statement:

“We can apply this simulation model to new field data sets to more accurately predict PFAS concentrations across species and ecosystems and provide better information to decision makers,” Sunderland said.

For More Information Contact:

Elsie M Sunderland
Harvard School of Public Health
Phone: 617-496-0858
Email: ems@seas.harvard.edu

To learn more about this research, please refer to the following sources:

  • Kelly BC, Sun JM, McDougall MR, Sunderland E, Gobas FA. 2024. Development and Evaluation of Aquatic and Terrestrial Food Web Bioaccumulation Models for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. Environ Sci Technol 58(40):17828-17837. doi:10.1021/acs.est.4c02134 PMID:39327829 PMCID:PMC11465642

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