Perfluorinated compounds in whole fish homogenates from the Ohio, Missouri, and Upper Mississippi Rivers, USA.

A method for the analysis of 10 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in whole fish homogenate is presented and applied to 60 fish samples collected from the Ohio, Missouri, and upper Mississippi Rivers in 2005. Method accuracy ranged between 86 and 125% with limits of quantitation between 0.2 and 10 ng/g wet weight. Intra- and inter-batch precision was generally +/-20%. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant compound identified in these samples, contributing over 80% of total PFC composition in the fish from these rivers, with median PFOS concentrations of 24.4, 31.8, and 53.9 ng/g wet wt in the Missouri, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, respectively. Median PFOS levels were significantly (p=0.01) elevated in piscivorous fish (88.0 ng/g) when compared with non-piscivorous fish (15.9 ng/g). The 10 samples with PFOS concentrations above 200 ng/g were broadly scattered across all three rivers, providing evidence of the widespread presence of this compound in these US waterways.

Perfluorinated compounds in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fillets from the Upper Mississippi River.

Ten different perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), including perfluooctane sulfonate (PFOS), were measured in 30 common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fillets collected from three sites on the Upper Mississippi River in Minnesota in an effort to evaluate the potential impact of PFAA emissions in this area. Samples upstream of the city of St. Cloud (reference site) had median PFOS concentrations of 8.1 ng/g wet weight (ng/g wet wt), but median levels increased significantly downstream in the Minneapolis-St. Paul urban area, with concentrations from the Pig's Eye Lake site at 26 ng/g wet wt (p = 0.0015) and the Spring Lake site at 40 ng/g wet wt (p = 0.0004). This latter PFOS concentration is within the advisory range for limiting fish consumption to one meal a week according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Other PFAAs were also found to increase significantly between the reference site and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but maximal concentrations remained below 2.0 ng/g wet wt. This study demonstrates the bioaccumulation of PFAAs in a ubiquitous fish species in a major urban area known to have historical inputs of various PFAA compounds. The full extent of this contamination and the potential for accumulation in other species remain to be evaluated.