|
1H a/b/c - Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkylated substances, antibiotics (WEP/20) Perfluorinated Acids in the Great Lakes. Stock, Naomi1, Bonin, Julia1, Martin, Jonathan 1, Muir, Derek2, Mabury, Scott1, 1 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada2 Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada ABSTRACT- Perfluorinated carboxylic and sulfonic acids (PFAs) have recently emerged as priority environmental contaminants and the occurrence of PFAs in the Great Lakes ecosystems is of interest. PFAs were measured in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from all Great Lakes employing an ion-pair extraction method and analysis via liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass-spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). Spatial trends of PFA body burdens in lake trout in the Great Lakes ecosystem will be examined. Air, water, sediment and biota samples from Lake Ontario, were collected in June of 2002 during a research aboard the CGCS Limnos. Method development for the extraction of PFAs in water and sediment, and analysis via LC-MS-MS will be discussed. Air samples were collected using high-volume air samplers and sampling media consisting of quartz fiber filter, polyurethane foam and XAD-2. A suite of possible PFA precursors (fluorinated chemicals which may degrade to PFAs) – including perfluorosulfonamides and fluorinated telomer alcohols – were measured in air samples via gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The presence of PFA precursors in air samples may provide some indication of the source of PFAs in the Great Lakes. A multi-media model addressing the fate of both PFAs and PFA precursors in the Lake Ontario ecosystem has been developed. Key words: Great Lakes, perfluorinated acids, lake trout, precursors |
