Comparative Toxicity of Aquatic PFAS Exposure in Three Species of Amphibians
By Robert Wesley Flynn, Gary Hoover, Michael Iacchetta, Samuel Guffey, Chloe De Perre, Belinda Huerta, Weiming Li, Jason T Hoverman, Linda Lee, and Maria S Sepúlveda
Environ Toxicol Chem
February 28, 2022
DOI: 10.1002/etc.5319
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are contaminants of concern due to their widespread occurrence in the environment, persistence, and potential to elicit a range of negative health effects. PFAS are regularly detected in surface waters, but their effects on many aquatic organisms are still poorly understood. Species with thyroid-dependent development, like amphibians, can be especially susceptible to PFAS effects on thyroid hormone regulation. We examined sublethal effects of aquatic exposure to four commonly detected PFAS on larval northern leopard frogs (Rana [Lithobates] pipiens), American toads (Anaxyrus americanus), and eastern tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). Animals were exposed for 30 days (frogs and salamanders) or until metamorphosis (toads) to 10, 100, or 1,000 μg/L of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), or 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS). We determined that chronic exposure to common PFAS can negatively affect amphibian body condition and development at concentrations as low as 10 μg/L. These effects were highly species-dependent, with species having prolonged larval development (frogs and salamanders) being more sensitive to PFAS than more rapidly developing species (toads). Our results demonstrate some species could experience sublethal effects at sites with surface waters highly affected by PFAS. Our results also indicate that evaluating PFAS toxicity using a single species is not sufficient for accurate amphibian risk assessment. Future studies are needed to determine whether these differences in susceptibility can be predicted from species life histories and determine whether more commonly occurring environmental levels of PFAS could affect amphibians.
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