**Perfluorinated Chemicals in Sediments, Lichens, and Seabirds from the Antarctic Peninsula — Environmental Assessment and Management Perspectives**

Juan José Alava, Mandy R.R. McDougall, Mercy J. Borbor-Córdova, K. Paola Calle, Mónica Riofrio, Nastenka Calle, Michael G. Ikonomou and Frank A.P.C. Gobas

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/60205

#### **Abstract**

Antarctica is one of the last frontiers of the planet to be investigated for the envi‐ ronmental transport and accumulation of persistent organic pollutants. Per‐ fluorinated contaminants (PFCs) are a group of widely used anthropogenic substances, representing a significant risk to wildlife and humans due to their high biomagnification potential and toxicity risks, especially in food webs of the northern hemisphere and Arctic. Because the assessment of PFCs in the Antarctic continent is scarce, questions linger about the long-range transport and bioaccu‐ mulation capacity of PFCs in Antarctic food webs. To better understand the global environmental fate of PFCs, sediment, lichen (*Usnea aurantiaco-atra*), and seabird samples (southern giant petrel, *Macronectes giganteus*; gentoo penguin, *Pygoscelis papua*) were collected around the Antarctic Peninsula in 2009. PFC ana‐ lytes were analyzed by LC/MS/MS, revealing the detection of PFHpA in sea‐ birds' feather and fecal samples, and PFHxS in lichens. PFBA and PFPeA were detected in 80% and 60% of the lichens, and PFTA in 60% of sediment samples. While oceanic currents and atmospheric transport of PFCs may explain the ubiq‐ uitous nature of these contaminants in the Antarctic Peninsula, military bases and research stations established there may also be contributing as secondary sources of PFCs in the Antarctic ecosystem.

**Keywords:** Perfluorinated compounds, biota, sediment, Antarctic Peninsula, global transport

© 2015 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

## **1. Introduction**

Past research shows that legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dichlorodiphe‐ nyltrichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) pose substantial problems related to environmental and ecosystem health on a global scale [1–5]. POPs can be transported over very long distances, biomagnify in food webs, and cause adverse health effects in high trophic level species such as birds and marine mammals. Cold regions that are typically isolated from anthropogenic activity, such as the Arctic and the Antarctic, are particularly vulnerable to POPs because of the global distillation phenomenon, which causes many pollutants to concentrate in these regions [6, 7]. The Arctic Monitoring Assessment Program (AMAP), in association with the United Nations Environment Pro‐ gramme (UNEP) Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, has played a key role in documenting the fate, transport, and effects of these pollutants in the Arctic, and has promoted global initiatives to monitor, manage, and control these substances [6, 8]. Despite enhanced understanding of POP contamination in the Arctic, limited information exists on the state of pollution in Antarctic food webs. Researchers have identified a lack of comparative data between the polar regions of the world, where many efforts have been directed toward understanding POP contamination in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere such as the Canadian Arctic and Greenland [8–12].

Ongoing research has identified emerging contaminants of concern, including perfluorinated contaminants (PFCs), which are expected to pose significant risks to the environment and wildlife, particularly in the Arctic and the Antarctic [13–15]. Although PFCs have been detected in some Antarctic ecosystems and biota, the environmental transport and bioaccumulation patterns of PFCs, mainly perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) such as perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) and perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs), remain relatively unexplored within Antarc‐ tica. PFCs are highly fluorinated anthropogenic compounds, often utilized as repelling agents, with applications including coatings for paper or food packaging and textiles, industrial surfactants, insecticides, and historically, aqueous film-forming foams [16,17]. Due to their widespread use, PFCs are now considered environmentally ubiquitous substances, found in all areas around the world. In response, numerous measures have been taken to reduce the adverse impacts of PFCs on local and global scales [8].

PFCs are extremely persistent, can travel long distances (predominantly via ocean currents), bioaccumulate in food webs, and achieve highest concentrations in marine mammals and birds. PFCs are of particular ecological and toxicological concern due to their tendency to biomagnify in food webs and cause adverse health effects, including reproductive damage, immunotoxicity, and hepatotoxicity [18]. Of further interest is the unique physicochemical nature of PFCs. Whereas many legacy POPs are lipophilic and therefore accumulate in fatty tissues, PFCs tend to accumulate primarily in protein-rich tissues, such as the liver. Two PFAAs, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), represent the most commonly investigated PFCs of significant risk to wildlife and humans due to their ubiquitous nature, global fate and transport, high biomagnification potential, and toxicity risks, especially in aquatic and marine food webs of the northern hemisphere and Arctic [18–21]. Phase out programs designed to eliminate the production of PFOS were established for some regions in the early 2000s, followed by the addition of PFOS to the list of restricted POPs under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2009 [8]. Despite these initiatives, production of PFOS, PFOA, and several other PFAAs still take place around the world, including several developing countries [22–25]. One of the priority actions under the Antarctic Treaty is the assessment and monitoring of POPs, including PFCs, in Antarctica. Considering that assessments of PFCs in the Antarctic are limited, questions linger about the long-range environmental transport of these substances to the Southern Hemisphere, and the capacity of these substances to bioaccumulate in Antarctic food webs.

PFCs have been detected in various Antarctic environmental media and biota, typically in the pg/g to ng/g range, though many samples return nondetectable levels or levels below the minimum level of quantification [9]. Recent studies show that levels of many PFCs in Arctic environments have been increasing, with concentrations of several PFCs equivalent to or surpassing that of DDT, PCBs, PBDEs, and other organochlorine pesticides [19]. Similar patterns are anticipated for PFCs in Antarctic environments as they are continuously delivered from other geographic locations via long-range transport.

Although some PFCs are already categorized as POPs, the majority of these substances are not subject to global or local controls. To ensure that potential impacts of pollutants on Antarctic wildlife are considered in the global environmental agenda and throughout negotiations on commercial chemical production and use, it is important that a high-quality research program is developed on the fate and effects of contaminants in Antarctic ecosystems and wildlife. As part of an ongoing scientific initiative and collaboration between the Ecuadorian Antarctic Institute (INAE), Simon Fraser University (Canada), the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, DFO), and the Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (Ecua‐ dor), a study to investigate and monitor PFCs was initiated in Peninsula Antarctica around the surrounding areas of the Ecuadorian Station "Pedro Vicente Maldonado" during the 2009 Ecuadorian–Antarctic expedition. In this chapter, we provide one of the primary findings on PFCs in sediments and biotic matrices, including lichens as well as feces and feathers from the southern giant petrel (*Macronectes giganteus*) and gentoo penguin (*Pygocelis papua*), and evaluate the use of noninvasive techniques to monitor emerging organic contaminant of concern in the Antarctic environment.
