Toxicity of fluorotelomer carboxylic acids to the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Chlorella vulgaris, and the amphipod Hyalella azteca

Perfluorinated acids (PFAs) have elicited significant global regulatory and scientific concern due to their persistence and global pervasiveness. A source of PFAs in the environment is through degradation of fluorotelomer carboxylic acids (FTCAs) but little is known about the toxicity of these degradation products. Previous work found that FTCAs were two to three orders of magnitude more toxic to some freshwater invertebrates than their PFA counterparts and exhibited comparable chain-length–toxicity relationships. In this study, we investigated the toxicity of the 6:2, 8:2, and 10:2 saturated (FTsCA) and unsaturated (FTuCA) fluorotelomer carboxylic acids to two species of freshwater algae, Chlorella vulgaris and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, and the amphipod, Hyalella azteca. C. vulgaris was generally the most sensitive species, with EC50s of 26.2, 31.8, 11.1, and 4.2 mg/L for the 6:2 FTsCA, 6:2 FTuCA, 8:2 FTuCA, and 10:2 FTsCA, respectively. H. azteca was most sensitive to the 8:2 FTsCA and 10:2 FTuCA, with LC50s of 5.1 and 3.7 mg/L. The toxicity of the FTCAs generally increased with increasing carbon chain length, and with saturation for most of the species tested, with the exception of P. subcapitata, which did not exhibit any trend. These observations agree with chain-length–toxicity relationships previously reported for the PFCAs and support the greater toxicity of the FTCAs compared to PFCAs. However, the toxicity values are approximately 1000-fold above those detected in the environment indicating negligible risk to aquatic invertebrates.

► Assessed toxicity of six-, eight-, and ten-carbon saturated/unsaturated fluorotelomer carboxylic acids.
► Tests conducted with Chlorella vulgaris, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, and Hyalella azteca.
► Rank toxicity of FTCAs: C. vulgaris>H. azteca>P. subcapitata.
► Toxicity increased with increasing carbon chain length for C. vulgaris and H. azteca.
► Toxicity thresholds greater than environmental concentrations indicating low hazard.