A global survey of perfluorinated acids in oceans Nobuyoshi Yamashita a, * , Kurunthachalam Kannan b , Sachi Taniyasu a , Yuichi Horii a , Gert Petrick c , Toshitaka Gamo d a National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan b Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA c Leibniz-Institute of Marine Sciences, IFM-GEOMAR, West Shore Campus, Duesternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany d Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan Abstract Perfluorinated acids and their salts have emerged as an important class of global environmental contaminants. Biological mon- itoring surveys conducted using tissues of marine organisms reported the occurrence of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and related perfluorinated compounds in biota from various seas and oceans, including the Arctic and the Antarctic Oceans. Occurrence of perfluorinated compounds in remote marine locations is of concern and indicates the need for studies to trace sources and path- ways of these compounds to the oceans. Determination of sub-parts-per-trillion (ng/L) or parts-per-quadrillion (pg/L) concentra- tions of aqueous media has been impeded by relatively high background levels arising from procedural or instrumental blanks. Our research group has developed a reliable and highly sensitive analytical method by which to monitor perfluorinated compounds in oceanic waters. The method developed is capable of detecting PFOS, perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHS), perfluorobutanesulfo- nate (PFBS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) at a few pg/L in oceanic waters. The method was applied to seawater samples collected during several international research cruises undertaken during 2002–2004 in the central to eastern Pacific Ocean (19 locations), South China Sea and Sulu Seas (five), north and mid Atlan- tic Ocean (12), and the Labrador Sea (20). An additional 50 samples of coastal seawater from several Asian countries (Japan, China, Korea) were analyzed. PFOA was found at levels ranging from several thousands of pg/L in water samples collected from coastal areas in Japan to a few tens of pg/L in the central Pacific Ocean. PFOA was the major contaminant detected in oceanic waters, followed by PFOS. Further studies are being conducted to elucidate the distribution and fate of perfluorinated acids in oceans. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have emerged as a new class of global environmental pollutants. Among PFCs, perfluorinated sulfonates and perfluorinated carboxylates have attracted much attention in recent years. These compounds in general, and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in particular, comprise a class of environmentally persis- tent chemicals that have a wide range of industrial appli- cations, such as fire-fighting foams, pesticides, and consumer applications including surface coatings for carpets, furniture, and paper products (Kissa, 2001). Although these contaminants have probably been pres- ent in the environment and in biota for many decades, their environmental and biological effects have been realized only recently. The unique physicochemical properties of perfluorinated compounds make them highly suitable for the applications described earlier. These properties, such as high surface activity, thermal stability, amphipathicity, resistance to acidic and alka- line conditions, density, and weak intermolecular inter- actions, are responsible for their industrial value, but 0025-326X/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.04.026 * Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +81 899 61 8335. E-mail address: nob.yamashita@aist.go.jp (N. Yamashita). www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul Marine Pollution Bulletin 51 (2005) 658–668