A Bad Start in Life? Maternal Transfer of Legacy and Emerging Poly- and Substances to Eggs in an Arctic Seabird

• Published in: Environmental Science & Technology
• Main Authors: Jouanneau, William, Leandri-Breton, Don-Jean, Corbeau, Alexandre, Herzke, Dorte, Moe, Børge, Nikiforov, Vladimir A., Gabrielsen, Geir W., Chastel, Olivier
• Other Authors: Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Centre FRAM, McGill University = Université McGill Montréal, Canada, Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES), Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning (NILU), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), IPEV 330, ANR ILETOP French National Research Agency (ANR) ANR-16-CE34-0005, University of La Rochelle, France; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) CGIAR; Fonds de Recherche du Quebec -Nature et Technologies; Northern Scientific Training Program, ANR-16-CE34-0005,ILETOP,Impact des polluants historiques et émergents sur les prédateurs supérieurs marins de l'Arctique(2016)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: black-legged kittiwake; Rissa tridactyla; top predator; Svalbard; PFAS; emerging contaminants; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Arctic; Black-legged Kittiwake; rissa tridactyla
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03510649; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03773

International audience In birds, maternal transfer is a major exposure route for several contaminants, including poly-and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Little is known, however, about the extent of the transfer of the different PFAS compounds to the eggs, especially for alternative fluorinated compounds. In the present study, we measured legacy and emerging PFAS, including Gen-X, ADONA, and F-53B, in the plasma of prelaying black-legged kittiwake females breeding in Svalbard and the yolk of their eggs. We aimed to (1) describe the contaminant levels and patterns in both females and eggs, and (2) investigate the maternal transfer, that is, biological variables and the relationship between the females and their eggs for each compound. Contamination of both females and eggs were dominated by linPFOS then PFUnA or PFTriA. We notably found 7:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid-a precursor of long-chain carboxylates-in 84% of the egg yolks, and provide the first documented finding of ADONA in wildlife. Emerging compounds were all below the detection limit in female plasma. There was a linear association between females and eggs for most of the PFAS. Analyses of maternal transfer ratios in females and eggs suggest that the transfer is increasing with PFAS carbon chain length, therefore the longest chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were preferentially transferred to the eggs. The mean n-ary sumation Sigma(PFAS) in the second-laid eggs was 73% of that in the first-laid eggs. Additional effort on assessing the outcome of maternal transfers on avian development physiology is essential, especially for PFCAs and emerging fluorinated compounds which are under-represented in experimental studies.