A new study from Harvard University found that PFAS concentrations in the bodies of North Atlantic pilot whales have fallen by more than 60% since phase-out efforts began.
Studying PFAS levels in North Atlantic pilot whales addresses long-standing challenges in detecting and measuring PFAS concentrations. While older, so-called legacy PFAS are well-understood and easy to detect, newer generations of chemicals are difficult to identify.
“By using legacy PFAS, we have learned a lot more about their environmental transport and biological effects,” said lead author Jennifer Sun, a recent doctoral graduate and current postdoctoral researcher.
“But we have far less information about what is happening with the many new compounds that are being manufactured to replace traditional PFAS that are being phased out.”
It is difficult to understand the effects of individual PFAS compounds
Lead author Elsie Sunderland, Fred Kavli Professor of Environmental Chemistry in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, explained that once researchers understand the exposure and health effects of one chemical, new chemicals are developed.
To overcome this challenge, researchers adopted a new approach. Instead of measuring individual PFAS, we measured bulk organofluorine, which captures the fluorine found in most PFAS compounds.
The researchers used these measurements as a proxy for total PFAS concentrations, which include new types that are difficult to identify independently.
How North Atlantic pilot whales can help overcome these challenges
Armed with this approach, the researchers studied whale tissue samples in collaboration with a long-time research partner in the Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic archipelago that maintains its own long-term archive of pilot whale tissue.
The North Atlantic pilot whale, an apex predator, is considered a sentinel of ocean pollution because its body is exposed to chemicals for long periods of time and lives in the open ocean, showing how far harmful compounds can travel through the environment.
The researchers found that overall organofluorine levels are primarily composed of four traditional PFASs, which together peaked in the mid-2010s and declined by more than 60% by 2023.
Efforts to phase out PFAS are likely to be effective in cleaning up ocean pollution
“Production phase-out, initially voluntary and later driven by regulation, has been very effective in reducing the concentrations of these chemicals in communities close to the source and in more remote ecosystems, which I think is very positive and important to emphasize,” Sun said.
However, new PFAS can accumulate in a variety of locations
This reduction comes at a time when global production of new PFAS is increasing, raising the question: If new PFAS are not accumulating in marine ecosystems like their predecessors, where are they accumulating?
Professor Sunderland explained: “The ocean is generally considered to be the ultimate sink for terrestrial anthropogenic pollution. However, we are not seeing any substantial accumulation of modern PFAS in the open ocean. So where are they?”
“While our results are good news for ocean pollution, they suggest that new PFAS may behave differently than traditional PFAS.”
He concluded that it “highlights the need for stronger regulation of ongoing PFAS production to reduce future impacts.”
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