Temporal and Spatial Trends of Perfluorinated Compounds in Juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) along the East Coast of the United States

Published

May 21, 2010

Author(s)

Jennifer M. Lynch, John R. Kucklick, Steven O'Connell

Abstract

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are globally distributed persistent environmental contaminants. This study provides temporal trends as well as large-scale spatial trends of PFC concentrations in threatened juvenile loggerhead sea turtles from Florida (FL) Bay, Cape Canaveral, Charleston area, Core Sound, and Chesapeake Bay. PFCs were extracted from 164 plasma and serum samples using solid-phase extraction and quantified with LC/MS/MS. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant PFC, ranging from 0.31 ng/g to 39.0 ng/g. Concentrations of six compounds significantly varied by location (p ≤ 0.01), with Chesapeake Bay or FL Bay turtles having the highest concentrations. FL Bay turtles had accumulated a unique PFC pattern of a higher proportion of perfluorocarboxylates compared to PFOS. This study was the first to correlate wildlife PFC concentrations with human abundance; and a marginally significant, positive correlation was found with PFOS. PFOS and perfluorononanoate (PFNA) significantly decreased from 2000-2008 in the SC turtles annually by 20% and 11%, respectively (p ≤ 0.02). PFOS and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) were correlated to each other independent of region or year (r2 ≥ 0.50). Future investigations should continue temporal assessments as PFC regulations change, attempt to pinpoint specific sources and transport pathways in areas with higher PFC contamination, and assess turtle health at sites with higher PFC concentrations.

Citation

Environmental Science & Technology

Volume

44

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1021/es9036447

Keywords

persistent organic pollutants, organic contaminants, time trends, geographical trends, reptile, marine

Citation

Lynch, J. , Kucklick, J. and O'Connell, S. (2010), Temporal and Spatial Trends of Perfluorinated Compounds in Juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta) along the East Coast of the United States, Environmental Science & Technology, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/es9036447 (Accessed April 20, 2024)