Physiological effects of PFAS exposure in seabird chicks: A multi-species study of thyroid hormone triiodothyronine, body condition and telomere length in South Western France

• Published in: Science of The Total Environment
• Main Authors: Sebastiano, M., Jouanneau, Willilam, Blévin, Pierre, Angelier, Frédéric, Parenteau, Charline, Pallud, Marie, Ribout, Cécile, Gernigon, J., Lemesle, J.C., Robin, F., Pardon, P., Budzinski, H., Labadie, P., Chastel, Olivier
• Other Authors: Physiologie moléculaire et adaptation (PhyMA), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Antwerp (UA), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Réserve Naturelle de Lilleau des Niges 17880 Portes-en-Ré, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: PFAS; Telomeres; Thyroid hormones; Physiology; Seabirds; Contaminants; [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology; Lesser black-backed gull
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04176596; https://hal.science/hal-04176596/document; https://hal.science/hal-04176596/file/Sebastiano%20et%20al.%202023_STOTEN%20accepted%20version.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165920

International audience There is growing evidence that poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure leads to the disruption of thyroid hormones including thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), and may affect telomeres, repetitive nucleotide sequences which protects chromosome ends. Many seabird species are long-lived top predators thus exhibit high contaminant levels, and PFAS-disrupting effects on physiology have been documented especially in relation to the endocrine system in adults. On the contrary, studies on the developmental period (i.e., chicks), during which exposure to environmental contaminants may have a greater impact on physiological traits, remain scarce to this date. We carried out a multi-species study with the aim to assess whether and to which extent chicks of four gull species (herring gull, great and lesser black-backed gull, yellow-legged gull) in South Western France are contaminated by PFAS, and to bring further evidence about their potential physiological consequences. Linear PFOS showed concentrations of concern as it was generally >10 times higher than the other PFAS, and exceeded a threshold toxicity level (calculated from previous studies in birds) in almost all sampled chicks. Nonetheless, in herring gull male chicks, total T3 levels were significantly and negatively associated with perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) and perfluorododecanoate (PFDoDA) and positively associated with perfluorotetradecanoate (PFTeDA) in female chicks. Total T3 levels were also positively associated with PFDoDA in great black backed gull male chicks and with perfluorotridecanoate (PFTrDA) in lesser black backed gull chicks. In lesser and great black-backed gulls, both females and males showed significant negative associations between several PFAS and their body condition, and a positive association between telomere length and L-PFOS in the yellow-legged gull. These results corroborate previous findings and need to be further explored as they suggest that PFAS may interfere with the physiological ...