Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in a subtropical mangrove estuary food web

Abstract

Mangrove estuaries are an important land-sea transitional ecosystem that is currently under various pollution pressures, while there is a lack of research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the organisms of mangrove estuaries. In this study, we investigated the distribution and seasonal variation of PFAS in the tissues of organisms from a mangrove estuary. The PFAS concentrations in fish tissues varied from 0.45 ng/g ww to 17.67 ng/g ww and followed the order of viscera > head > carcass > muscle, with the highest tissue burden found in the fish carcass (39.59 ng). The log BAF values of PFDoDA, PFUnDA, and PFDA in the whole fish exceeded 3.70, indicating significant bioaccumulation. The trophic transfer of PFAS in the mangrove estuary food web showed a dilution effect, which was mainly influenced by the spatial heterogeneity of PFAS distribution in the estuarine environment, and demonstrated that the gradient dilution of PFAS in the estuary habitat environment can disguise the PFAS bio-magnification in estuarine organisms, and the larger the swimming ranges of organisms, the more pronounced the bio-dilution effect. The PFOA-equivalent HRs of category A and B fish were 3.48–5.17 and 2.59–4.01, respectively, indicating that mangrove estuarine residents had a high PFAS exposure risk through the intake of estuarine fish.