School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, CN-510632, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Behavioural Ecology & Ecophysiology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, Wildlife and Landscape Science Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, K1A 0H3, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Environ Res. 2020 Dec;191:110151. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110151. Epub 2020 Sep 1.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large, diverse group of chemicals and several perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are known environmental contaminants. Wildlife exposure to PFAAs and precursors has been shown, but less is known regarding replacements such as shorter-chain PFAS. In the present study, exposure to a suite of PFAAs and associations with dietary, biological and ecological factors were investigated in populations of a sentinel apex species - the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Nestling blood (n = 57) and sibling eggs (n = 9) were sampled in 2016 and 2018 from nests in rural and urban regions across the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, Canada. PFSAs (perfluorinated sulfonic acids) including PFHxS, PFOS, and PFDS were detected in most egg and plasma samples, whereas 11 PFCAs (perfluorinated carboxylic acids; C-C, C) compared to eight PFCAs (C-C, C) were detected in most eggs and plasma, respectively. Shorter-chain C-C PFCAs were more dominant in plasma and longer-chain C-C PFCAs in eggs, but profiles were similar for PFOS, PFDS, PFUdA and PFHxDA. The exposure to PFAAs in peregrine falcons is likely mediated by dietary factors such as foraging location (δC and δS) and trophic position (δN) given the associations observed in eggs and nestling plasma, respectively. Moreover, significant relationships were observed for circulating ΣPFCAs and region (rural/urban), and nestling body condition after adjusting for sampling year and dietary tracers, suggesting that compared to rural nestlings, urban nestlings may be more exposed to ΣPFCAs and prone to their potential physiological impacts. Our findings highlight the importance of integrating dietary, biological and ecological factors when studying PFAS exposure in birds.
全氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 是一大类多样化的化学物质，几种全氟烷基酸 (PFAAs) 是已知的环境污染物。已经证明野生动物会接触到 PFAAs 和前体，但对于像短链 PFAS 这样的替代品，人们了解得较少。在本研究中，对一种有代表性的顶级物种——游隼 (Falco peregrinus) 的种群进行了一系列 PFAAs 的暴露研究，并探讨了其与饮食、生物和生态因素的关联。2016 年和 2018 年，在加拿大劳伦森大湖盆地农村和城市地区的巢中，采集了 57 只雏鸟血液和 9 只同窝卵的样本。在大多数卵和血浆样本中都检测到了 PFSAs（全氟磺酸），包括 PFHxS、PFOS 和 PFDS，而在大多数卵和血浆中分别检测到了 11 种 PFCAs（全氟羧酸；C-C，C）和 8 种 PFCAs（C-C，C）。在血浆中，短链 C-C PFCAs 更为主要，而在卵中，长链 C-C PFCAs 更为主要，但 PFOS、PFDS、PFUdA 和 PFHxDA 的分布情况则较为相似。考虑到卵和雏鸟血浆中分别观察到的关联，游隼中 PFAAs 的暴露可能是由饮食因素（如觅食地点（δC 和 δS）和营养级（δN））介导的。此外，在调整采样年份和饮食示踪剂后，还观察到循环ΣPFCAs 与区域（农村/城市）和雏鸟身体状况之间存在显著关系，这表明与农村雏鸟相比，城市雏鸟可能更容易接触到ΣPFCAs，并容易受到其潜在的生理影响。我们的研究结果强调了在研究鸟类中 PFAS 暴露时，整合饮食、生物和生态因素的重要性。
