Biota-Sediment Accumulation Factors for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used in commercial products such textiles, firefighting foams, and surface coatings across the globe and some PFAS are known to be bioaccumulative in aquatic species. The ultimate sink for numerous anthropogenic chemicals is the sediments in lakes, rivers, and oceans. To understand the relationship between sediment and aquatic species, a literature search was performed and biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) data for 17 taxonomic classes were assembled. The carbonyl and sulfonyl PFAS classes were relatively data rich whereas phosphate (no measurements), ether (one chemical), and fluorotelomer (limited number of chemicals) PFAS classes were data poor. Taxonomic classes of Teleostei and Clitellata had the largest BSAFs whereas Magnoliopsida and Bivalvia had the smallest BSAFs, and BSAF values >1 (kg-OC/kg-wet wt) were very rare. Across all studies, median (±standard deviation) whole-body Teleostei BSAFs for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid (kg-OC/kg-wet wt) were 0.0580 (±0.445, n = 60) and 0.00283 (±0.103,24), respectively. Laboratory-measured BSAFs were consistently larger than field-measured BSAFs, that is, 53 of 67 comparisons were larger (80%). Comparing BSAFs across taxonomic classes, 72% of the BSAFs were significantly different (α = 0.05). Comparing BSAFs within a taxonomic class, BSAFs were significantly different for 63% of the taxonomic classes. Elimination kinetics for benthic invertebrates suggests steady-state conditions might be reached in the 28-day uptake portion of a laboratory bioaccumulation test for some test species. The largest data gaps, beyond limited measurements, are understanding the effects of concentration and mixtures on bioaccumulation from sediments, quantifying the difference, if any, in BSAFs between freshwater and brackish/marine ecosystems, and models for predicting BSAFs based on concentrations in sediment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;42:277-295. © 2022 SETAC. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Keywords: BSAF; Bioaccumulation; Biota-sediment accumulation factor; PFASs; fish; per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; sediment.

FIGURE 1:

Study quality ranking methodology. BSAFs = biota-sediment accumulation factors.

FIGURE 2:

Boxplots of biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) for taxonomic classes of Teleostei (whole body), Insecta (whole body), Malacostraca (soft tissue), Holothuroidea (digestive, respiratory tracts, and gonads), Gastropoda (soft tissue), Clitellata (whole body), Polychaeta (whole body), Bivalvia (soft tissue), and Magnoliopsida (whole plant and whole plant minus roots). The lines in the boxes are medians, the ends of the boxes are the 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers are the 10th and 90th percentiles, and dots are individual values outside the whiskers. When only one measurement exists for a chemical, a crossed box or a crossed diamond is plotted. PFBA = perfluorobutanoic acid; PFPA = perfluoropentanoic acid; PFHxA = perfluorohexanoic acid; PFHpA = perfluoroheptanoic acid; PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid; PFNA = perfluorononanoic acid; PFDA = perfluorodecanoic acid; PFUnDA = perfluoroundecanoic acid; PFDoDA = perfluorododecanoic acid; PFTrDA = perfluorotridecanoic acid; PFTeDA = perfluorotetradecanoic acid; PFBS = perfluorobutane sulfonic acid; PFPeS = perfluoropentane sulfonic acid; PFHxS = perfluorohexane sulfonic acid; PFHpS = perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid; PFOS = perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; PFNS = perfluorononane sulfonic acid; PFDS = perfluorodecane sulfonic acid; FOSA = perfluorooctane sulfonamide.

FIGURE 3:

Boxplots of biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) for Teleostei measured in the field for liver, whole-body, and muscle/fillet tissues. The line in the boxes are medians, the ends of the boxes are the 25th and 75th percentiles, whiskers are the 10th and 90th percentiles, and dots are individual values outside the whiskers. When only one measurement exists for a chemical, a crossed diamond, crossed box, or crossed circle is plotted. PFBA = perfluorobutanoic acid; PFPA = perfluoropentanoic acid; PFHxA = perfluorohexanoic acid; PFHpA = perfluoroheptanoic acid; PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid; PFNA = perfluorononanoic acid; PFDA = perfluorodecanoic acid; PFUnDA = perfluoroundecanoic acid; PFDoDA = perfluorododecanoic acid; PFTrDA = perfluorotridecanoic acid; PFTeDA = perfluorotetradecanoic acid; PFBS = perfluorobutane sulfonic acid; PFPeS = perfluoropentane sulfonic acid; PFHxS = perfluorohexane sulfonic acid; PFHpS = perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid; PFOS = perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; PFNS = perfluorononane sulfonic acid; PFDS = perfluorodecane sulfonic acid; FOSA = perfluorooctane sulfonamide.

FIGURE 4:

Measured biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) as a function of concentration in the sediment for Teleostei (field measurements, whole body), Malacostraca (field, whole body), Bivalvia (field, soft tissue), and Clitellata (laboratory, whole body). Regression lines of log eBSAF) = A + B log ($C_{\text{sediment}}/f_{\text{OC}}$) are plotted in each graph. PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid; PFOS = perfluorooctane sulfonic acid.

FIGURE 5:

Relationships of protein and lipid contents to field-measured median biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) for Teleostei, Insecta, Malacostraca, Holothuroidea, Gastropoda, Polychaeta, Clitellata, Bivalvia, and Magnoliopsida taxonomic classes. Symbols are the first three letters of the taxonomic class followed by F for field or L for laboratory measurement. Taxonomic classes and tissues are Teleostei (whole body), Insecta (whole body), Malacostraca (soft tissue), Holothuroidea (digestive, respiratory tracts, and gonads), Gastropoda (soft tissue), Clitellata (whole body), Polychaeta (whole body), Bivalvia (soft tissue), and Magnoliopsida (whole plant and whole plant minus roots).

FIGURE 6:

Uptake ($k_{\text{S}}$) and elimination ($k_{\text{e}}$) rate constants for oligochaetes, gammarids, midge, and Lumbriculus variegatus in sediment exposures, and midge uptake and elimination rate constants in aqueous exposure from a bioconcentration factor (BCF) measurement. PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid; PFNA = perfluorononanoic acid; PFDA = perfluorodecanoic acid; PFUnDA = perfluoroundecanoic acid; PFDoDA = perfluorododecanoic acid; PFTrDA = perfluorotridecanoic acid; PFOS = perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; PFDS = perfluorodecane sulfonic acid; 6:2 FTSA = 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid; MeFOSAA = 2-(N-methylperfluorooctanesulfonamido)acetic acid; EtFOSAA = N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido acetic acid; FOSA = perfluorooctane sulfonamide; PCBs = polychlorinated biphenyls.