Occurrence and ecotoxicity of PFCs in marine environment of Singapore

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are a newly emerging class of environmental contaminants which are widely used in numerous applications, mainly as surfactants. The concern of PFCs rises because of their ubiquitous distributions in the environment, biota and even humans worldwide. They are also extremely persistent, bioaccumulative and can be biomagnified through the food web. Previous occurrence studies showed that PFCs can be detected at several tens ng/L to µg/L levels in Singapore’s surface water. The purpose of current study was to characterize the occurrence and toxicological effects of PFCs in indigenous mussel specie, Perna viridis, in the tropical marine environment in Singapore. Mussel samples were taken around Singapore coastline. The concentrations of PFCs were measured using LC MS/MS. The ecological impact of several dominant PFCs was examined by measuring three different biomarkers, named neutral red retention time, DNA fragmentation and filtration rate. Results showed also PFCs occurred at very low level in seawater at several pg/L, green mussels however were shown to bioaccumulate PFCs to a much higher level that caused adverse responses in the organism. These biomarker responses can be used as an early warning signal to protect ecosystem health in tropical urban waters. Considering the possible risks of PFCs to the ecological system, preventive actions should be taken to regulate PFCs contaminations in Singapore.