Evaluation of Published Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) and Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF) Data for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Across Aquatic Species

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals of concern across the globe, and some of the PFAS chemicals are known to be bioaccumulative in aquatic species. A literature search for bioconcentration factors (BCFs) and bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) for PFAS has been done, and data for 22 taxonomic classes were assembled. The assembled data were evaluated for quality, and for gaps and limitations in bioaccumulation information for the PFAS universe of chemicals. In general, carbonyl and sulfonyl PFAS classes are relatively data rich, whereas phosphate, fluorotelomer, and ether PFAS classes are data limited for fish and nonexistent for most other taxonomic classes. Taxonomic classes with the most measurements were, in descending order, Teleostei (fish), Bivalvia, and Malacostraca. For fish, median whole-body log BAFs (L/kg wet wt) for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid were 3.55 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.83, n = 84) and 2.16 (SD = 0.85, n = 48) using all measurements, respectively. In comparison with freshwater species, data are limited for marine species, and further research is needed to determine whether the BAFs for freshwater and marine species should be the same or different. The BAFs for some PFAS appear to be consistent with the BCFs developed with laboratory experiments, in which values decline with increasing concentrations in water. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;00:1-14. Published 2021. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Automated summary

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals of global concern, with some known to bioaccumulate in aquatic species. Data on BCFs and BAFs for 22 taxonomic classes were evaluated, showing variations in bioaccumulation patterns across different PFAS chemical classes in various organisms.