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Exposure patterns of perfluorooctane sulfonate in aquatic organisms from the Western Scheldt estuary
Van de Vijver, K.; Hoff, P.; Van Dongen, W.; Esmans, E.L.; Blust, R.; De Coen, W.M. (2002). Exposure patterns of perfluorooctane sulfonate in aquatic organisms from the Western Scheldt estuary, in: ECSA Local Meeting: ecological structures and functions in the Scheldt Estuary: from past to future, Antwerp, Belgium October 7-10, 2002: abstract book. pp. 65
In: (2002). ECSA Local Meeting: Ecological structures and functions in the Scheldt Estuary: from past to future, Antwerp, Belgium October 7-10, 2002: abstract book. University of Antwerp: Antwerp. 73 + 1 cd-rom pp., more

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Document type: Summary

Keywords
    Aquatic organisms
    Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Fish > Marine fish
    Chemical compounds > Organic compounds
    Chemical elements > Metals > Heavy metals
    Distribution
    Environments > Aquatic environment > Brackishwater environment
    Fauna > Aquatic organisms > Aquatic animals > Shellfish
    Pesticides
    Pollution
    Waste disposal
    Water > Wastes > Waste water
    Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Crangon crangon (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]; Trisopterus luscus (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
    ANE, Netherlands [Marine Regions]; Belgium, Schelde R. [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal; Brackish water; Fresh water

Authors  Top 
  • Van de Vijver, K., more
  • Hoff, P., more
  • Van Dongen, W.
  • Esmans, E.L.
  • Blust, R., more
  • De Coen, W.M., more

Abstract
    Estuarine and coastline ecosystems are of major economic importance, but due to large industrial and domestic waste water discharges, the structure and functions of these habitats are often disturbed. Like other estuarine areas, the Western Scheldt estuary, situated in the southwest of the Netherlands and the north of Belgium, is a highly polluted ecosystem. Until now attention was primarly focused on organochlorines, pesticides and heavy metals because of their persistent character and ability to accumulate in aquatic organisms. Research investigating another group of important pollutants, the fluorinated organic compounds (FOCs), has received much less attention. As recent studies have indicated that FOCs occur worldwide in the environment, show high persistence and little or no biodegradation, it becomes more and more important to characterize the distribution patterns and effects of fluorinated organochemicals. An important representative of these fluorinated chemicals is perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). In the present study, we determined, for the first time, the PFOS-exposure levels in vertebrate and invertebrate biota from the Western Scheldt estuary. We sampled various organisms during several field campaigns. All tissue samples were extracted in methanol and concentrations of PFOS were determined using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). The concentration of PFOS in crab (Carcinus maenas), shrimp (Crangon crangon), bib (Trisopterus luscus) and plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) provide a basic set of data for estimating fluoro-organic chemical contamination levels in the estuarine environment and for further studies concerning the distribution patterns in estuarine ecosystems.

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