Submitted by PBMS Admin on
Buzzard liver samples collected through the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme have been used in a recently published collaborative study measuring per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in marine, freshwater and terrestrial apex predators.
Broadly used in various applications PFAS are known to be persistent and highly bioaccumulative, but this one of only a few studies to measure these compound in apex predators from across Europe. Sum PFAS concentrations were one to four orders of magnitude higher in apex predators compared to their prey and PFOS, long-chain PFCAs and PFPi's were detected in all species studied.
LIFE APEX is a demonstration project that explores pan-European collection and use of chemical monitoring data. The Union-wide novelty of LIFE APEX’s approach centres around the use of chemical monitoring data from apex predators and their prey (AP&P) for the purposes of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of CHemicals (REACH) and Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR).
The latest LIFE APEX newsletter can be viewed here: https://lifeapex.eu/dissemination/ and you can follow the progress of the project on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/LIFEAPEX1
Glossary:
PFOS – perfluorooctanesulfonate
PFCAs – perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids
PFPi’s - perfluoroalkylphosphinic acids
