A New Fluorinated Surfactant Contaminant in Biota: Perfluorobutane Sulfonamide in Several Fish Species.

Environmental contamination and regulation of longer-chain perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) such as perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) has given rise to the increased use of shorter-chain PFASs as alternatives in new products, although confirmation of their presence in the environment remains limited. In this study, the PFAS alternative, perfluoro-1-butane-sulfonamide (FBSA), was identified for the first time in biota in homogenate samples of fish by liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-ToF-MS) and quantified by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS). In one flounder (Platichthys flesus) muscle sample from the Western Scheldt, The Netherlands, FBSA concentration was at 80.12 ng/g wet weight (w.w.) and was exceeded only by PFOS. FBSA was also detected in 32 out of 33 samples of freshwater fish collected (2009-2010) from water bodies across Canada. In lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from northern Canada (e.g., Lake Kusawa (Yukon Territory), Great Bear Lake (Northwest Territories and in the Arctic), and Lake Athabasca (northern Alberta)), the concentrations of FBSA ranged from below method detection limit (<0.01 ng/g w.w) to 0.44 ng/g w.w. and were much lower than those reported for lake trout from the more urbanized and industrialized Laurentian Great Lakes sites (3.17 ± 1.53 ng/g w.w.). In three species of fish purchased from a supermarket in Ottawa (ON, Canada), FBSA concentrations were the lowest of all fish and ranged from < MLOD to 0.29 ng/g w.w. and 0.03 to 0.76 ng/g w.w. in muscle and liver, respectively. FBSA is a bioaccumulative contaminant in fish in Canada and possibly in The Netherlands. It is likely sourced from new alternative perfluorobutane-based products, as well as other shorter chain perfluoroalkyl-based products.