Perfluorinated Alkyl Acids in the Plasma of American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Florida and South Carolina

Published

April 4, 2017

Author(s)

Jessica L. Reiner, John Bowden, Ian Christie, Matthew P. Guillette, Russell H. Lowers, Arnold Brunell, Phillip M. Wilkinson, Jacqueline T. Bangma, Thomas R. Rainwater, Louis J. Guillette Jr., Martin Jones

Abstract

This study was the first to quantitate fourteen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in 125 adult American alligators at twelve sites across the southeastern US. Of those fourteen PFAAs, nine were commonly detected. Males as a group (across all sites) showed a significantly higher burden of four PFAAs: PFOS (p = 0.01, Figure 2), PFDA (p = 0.0003, Figure S2), PFUnA (p = 0.021, Figure S2), and PFTriA (p = 0.021, Figure S2). Notable differences in plasma PFAA burden between sites were seen for PFOS, PFHxS, and PFDA for males as well as females. Alligators from both Merritt Island and Kiawah Nature Conservancy exhibited some of the highest levels of PFOS (medians 99.5 ng/g and 55.8 ng/g respectively) measured to date in a crocodilian species. A number of positive correlations between PFAA burden and snout vent length (SVL) were observed for both males and females. The strongest correlations were observed between PFOS and females SVL (r = 0.551, p

Citation

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Volume

36

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

PFAA, PFOS, PFHxS, alligators

Citation

Reiner, J. , Bowden, J. , Christie, I. , Guillette, M. , Lowers, R. , Brunell, A. , Wilkinson, P. , Bangma, J. , Rainwater, T. , Guillette, L. and Jones, M. (2017), Perfluorinated Alkyl Acids in the Plasma of American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Florida and South Carolina, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.3600 (Accessed January 25, 2025)