Trends of Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances in Herring Gull Eggs from Two Coastal Colonies in Northern Norway: 1983−2003

Abstract

The present study reports on concentrations, patterns, and temporal trends (1983, 1993, and 2003) of 16 perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in whole eggs of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) from two geographically isolated colonies in northern Norway. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant PFAS in all eggs with mean concentrations up to 42 ng/g wet weight (ww) in samples from 2003. Perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDcS) were found at concentrations several orders of magnitude lower than PFOS. The general accumulation profile of perfluorocarboxylates (PFCAs) in herring gull eggs was characterized by high proportions of odd and long carbon (C) chain length compounds in which perfluoroundecanoate (C11) and perfluorotridecanoate (C13) dominated with mean concentrations up to 4.2 and 2.8 ng/g ww, respectively. In both colonies PFOS concentrations in eggs showed a nearly 2-fold significant increase from 1983 to 1993, followed by a leveling off up to 2003. A comparable trend was found for PFHxS, whereas PFDcS was found to increase also between 1993 and 2003. PFCA concentrations showed marked significant increases during 1983-1993 associated with either a weak rise post-1993 (C8- to C11-PFCAs), although nonsignificant, or leveling off (C12- and C13-PFCAs). However, the composition of individual PFCAs (C8 to C15) to the summed concentrations of those eight PFCAs highly differed between the colonies and sampling years investigated. Present results suggest that direct and indirect local- and/or remote-sourced inputs (atmospheric and waterborne) of PFCAs have changed over the last two decades in these two coastal areas of Northern Norway.