Perfluorooctane sulfonate in fish-eating water birds including bald eaglesand albatrosses

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was measured in 161 samples of liver, kidn ey, blood, or egg yolk from 21 species of fish-eating water birds collected in the United States including albatrosses from Sand Island, Midway Atoll, in the central North Pacific Ocean. Concentrations of PFOS in the blood pl asma of bald eagles collected from the midwestern United States ranged from 13 to 2220 ng/mL (mean: 330 ng/mL), except one sample that did not contain quantifiable concentrations of PFOS. Concentrations of PFOS were greater i n blood plasma than in whole blood. Among 82 livers from various species of birds from inland or coastal U.S. locations, Brandt's cormorant from San D iego, CA, contained the greatest concentration of PFOS (1780 ng/g, wet wt). PFOS was also found in the sera of albatrosses from the central North Paci fic Ocean at concentrations ranging from 3 to 34 ng/mL. Occurrence of PFOS in birds from remote marine locations suggests widespread distribution of P FOS and related fluorochemicals in the environment.