Fluorinated pollutants in fish from German coastal areas

Background and Objective

Contamination with per- and polyfluorinated compounds such as PFAS in marine fish is a growing environmental problem. PFAS are persistent and bioaccumulative, which means that they can accumulate in organisms. Studies have shown that marine fish living in contaminated waters have high concentrations of PFAS, which can lead to health risks for fish and consumers. Due to the complexity of measuring these parameters, not every routine laboratory carries out these measurements. The EMPEREST project, which collected all available PFAS data in the HELCOM area, revealed gaps in the data for the MSRL monitoring. The here descroibed project  "PFAS-Fisch" aims to partially address these gaps. ThisprojectaimstoimprovetheexistingMSFDsovereignmonitoringbyexpandingthemeasurementmethod for the future andincreasingtheregionalcoverageofPFASmeasurementsinfish.

Theobjectivesoftheproject:

1.  AchievemethodologicalimprovementinthemeasurementofPFAS
2.  Enhance regionalcoverageof information about PFAScontaminationoffishinGermanmarineareas

Approach

The project aims to study the presence of pollutants known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in fish from German coastal marine areas in order to assess the contamination. PFAS are mandatory parameters to be measured in the MSFD monitoring. 

Fish muscle samples from flatfish caught in German coastal areas will be examined as part of this study.

Data and Methods

SeveralPFAS chemicals areextractedtogetherfromthefishmusclesamplesandpurifiedbysolidphaseextractionbeforetheyareseparatedbyhighpressureliquidchromatographyandidentifiedbytheirspecificmassfragments (LC-MS/MS). Finally, theircontents in the samples aredeterminedusingisotope-labeledstandardsubstances. ThemethodhasalreadybeenexternallyvalidatedforPFOSandwillbeextendedtoincludethesubstanceslistedbelow.

Liste of possible PFAS chemicals

Our Research Questions

1. WhatistheexposureofsevendifferentchemicalsfromthegroupofPFAStoflatfishfromGermancoastalareas?
2. WhatistheregionaldistributionofPFAScontaminationinflatfishspeciesfromGermancoastalareas? 
3. Whatarethe relations between contamination levels and detection or determinationlimitsofthesevenPFASchemicalsinfishandwhichPFASshouldbeprioritised in addition to PFOS and PFOA forgovernmentmonitoringinlesspollutedareas?