PARENT SESSION

HP6 Emerging Pollutants
202 Oregon Ballroom
1:20 PM - 5:20 PM, Thursday

() Perfluorinated organic compounds in the plasma of juvenile loggerhead and Kemp's ridley sea turtles from the southeastern coast of the U.S.

Keller, J¹, Kannan, K², Taniyasu, S², Yamashita, N², Day, R¹, Arendt, M³, Maier, P³, Segars, A³, Whitaker, J³, Kucklick, J¹, ¹ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Charleston, SC, USA² Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA³ South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Charleston, SC, USA

ABSTRACT- Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are globally distributed contaminants that have been detected in blood of humans and several wildlife species. This study examined 12 perfluorinated acids, some for the first time in any biotic sample, in plasma of 73 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and 6 Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempi). Juvenile turtles were captured in two coastal locations: one located in Core Sound, North Carolina and the other in offshore waters of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Compounds were measured using liquid chromatography interfaced with an electrospray tandem mass spectrometer. Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were the predominant compounds with respective mean (standard deviation) concentrations of 11000 (17200) and 3200 (1500) pg/mL for loggerhead turtles and 39400 (17100) and 3570 (550) pg/mL for Kemp's ridley turtles. PFOS concentrations were approximately three- and ten-fold higher than the concentration of PCBs typically measured in blood of loggerhead and Kemp's ridley turtles, respectively. Perfluorobutanoic acid and perfluoropentanoic acid were not detected in any turtle, while perfluorohexanoic acid, perfluoroheptanoic acid, and perfluorooctanesulfonamide were detected, respectively, in 8%, 12%, and 1% of the loggerhead samples and 0%, 17%, and 0% of the Kemp's ridley samples. Perfluorononanoic acid, perfluorodecanoic acid, perfluorododecanoic acid, perfluoroundodecanoic acid, and perfluorohexanesulfonate respective mean concentrations were 298, 515, 181, 359, and 155 pg/mL in loggerhead plasma and 1650, 2370, 462, 1420, and 253 pg/mL in Kemp's ridley turtle plasma. The Kemp's ridley turtles were found to have significantly higher concentrations of PFCs than the loggerhead turtles. Loggerheads captured in inshore waters of NC had significantly higher PFCs concentrations than loggerheads captured in offshore waters of SC, GA, and FL. PFC concentrations in loggerhead turtles captured in offshore waters were positively correlated with latitude, with turtles captured further north having higher concentrations. PFC concentrations in loggerhead turtles also correlated positively with carapace length, suggesting bioaccumulation with age. As expected for juveniles, no sex differences were observed for any PFC measured in the loggerheads from offshore South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Key words: PFOA, PFOS, reptiles, sea turtles