Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2018

AUTHORS. Samuel Guffey, Gary Hoover, Sarah Abercrombie, Jason Hoverman, Linda Lee, Marisol Sepulveda - Purdue University

ABSTRACT. Chemicals of Emerging Concern (CECs) are becoming prominent because various studies suggest that current levels of pollution may already be detrimental to fish, wildlife, and human health. One class of CECs, the poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), are present in surface and groundwater because of societal uses. They are also very stable, widely distributed, and potentially toxic. They may also be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, particularly for the thyroid system. Because amphibian metamorphosis is controlled by the thyroid, they may be especially sensitive to PFAS contamination. However, effects on amphibians, which might encounter PFASs in water, soil, and prey, have not been examined in detail. Using controlled laboratory experiments, we examined the bioconcentration and sublethal effects of four PFASs in larval American Toads, Anaxyrus americanus, larval Eastern Tiger Salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum, and larval Northern Leopard Frogs, Rana pipiens. Each species was subjected to constant aqueous exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), or 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2FTS) at 10 ppb, 100 ppb, or 1000 ppb. Estimated bioconcentration factor (BCF) varied depending on exposure concentration, duration, chemical, and species. Generally, PFOS was most bioaccumulative. In all three species, many of the BCFs decreased from initially higher values to