PARENT SESSION
TP8 Polyfluorinated and polybrominated chemicals: Environmental aspects
3:00 PM to 6:30 PM, Tuesday, 08 May 2001
Session Chair: S. Mabury
Room 8

(282) Evaluation of the adverse effects of perfluoorooctane sulfonic acid in juvenile carp (Cyprinus carpio).

Hoff, Philippe¹, Costa, Luís¹, Timmermans, Jean-Pierre², De Coen, Wim¹, ^{1 2}

ABSTRACT- Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was recently identified as an omnipresent environmental polluant. Chemically PFOS can be considered as a structural analogue of perfluorinated carboxylic acids for which a broad range of toxic effects is documented. In general, some of these chemicals can be considered as peroxisome proliferators (PPs) inducing liver carcinomas through a non-genotoxic mode of action. The fact that it is hardly biodegradable, clearly accumulates in top predators and also the fact that little information is available on the toxic properties of PFOS until now, makes this chemical an environmental polluant of primary concern. Little information however is available on the toxic properties of PFOS until now. In order to assess the adverse effects of PFOS on aquatic ecosystems, carp was used as modelspecies. Since PPs induce the peroxisomal formation of H₂O₂ in liver, catalase and peroxisomal fatty acyl CoA oxidase activities were used as markers for oxidative imbalance. In this context total antioxidant reactivity of serum and liver was also monitored. On the histological level the peroxisome proliferating capacity of PFOS was studied using electronmicroscopy on DAB stained liver slices . To evaluate the non-genotoxic mode of action of PFOS, DNA damage was assessed using agarose gel electrophoresis. Because PPs interfere with fatty acid catabolism in peroxisomes, serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels were measured. Furthermore aspartate and alanine aminotransferase levels in serum were monitored as parameters for indication of hepatocellular damage. These effects were measured in carp three weeks after intraperitoneal injection. Preliminary results show concentration dependent changes in catalase activity. On the DNA level strand breaks could not be detected. The results of this biochemical study will further be discussed in the context of the environmental hazard of perfluorinated organic sulfonic acids for aquatic ecosystems.

Key words: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, peroxisome proliferators, liver damage