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1H a/b/c - Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkylated substances, antibiotics (WEP/21) Geographical trends of PFOS and related perfluorocarboxylates in Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus). Smithwick, Marla1, Martin, Jonathan2, Sonne-Hansen, Christian3, Dietz, Rune3, Evans, Tom4, Solomon, Keith1, Mabury, Scott2, Muir, Derek5, 1 University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada2 University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada3 National Institute of Environmental Research, Roskilde, Denmark, Denmark4 US Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska, USA5 National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, Canada ABSTRACT- Perfluorinated Acids have been found globally in the tissues of a wide range of organisms, with highest concentrations in the liver and blood. The presence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has previously been found in polar bear liver and blood plasma samples from Alaska (Giesy and Kannan, 2001). Liver samples were homogenized in Na2CO3, with tetra-butyl ammonium hydrogen sulfate as an ion-pairing agent. The perfluorinated acids were extracted twice using methyl-t-butyl ether. Perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA) was used as an internal standard, and clean lake trout liver was used as a matrix blank. Retention time and ratios of multiple MS/MS transitions were monitored to confirm detection. This study confirms the presence of PFOS and longer chained fluorinated carboxylic acids (C8 – C14) in polar bear liver samples from Eastern Greenland, three areas in the Canadian Arctic (Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay and the Beaufort Sea), and Alaska. PFOS concentrations show an increase in contamination level from west to east across the North American Arctic, with highest levels in Eastern Greenland. Average PFOS concentration in Eastern Greenland (n=14) was 1.67 Key words: Arctic, perfluorinated acids, mammals, geographic trends |
g/g wet wt., in Hudson Bay (n=21) was 1.49