Tissue distribution of perfluorinated compounds in farmed freshwater fish and human exposure by consumption

In the present study, the levels of 14 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were analyzed in the blood, liver, muscle, brain, and eggs of popular farmed freshwater fish from Beijing. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was the predominant compound in all samples, with the highest concentration at 70.7 ng/g wet weight. The highest mean levels of PFOS in all tissues were observed in bighead (1.48-22.5 ng/g wet wt) and the lowest in tilapia (0.260-1.63 ng/g wet wt). In addition, perfluoroundecanoic acid was the second dominant PFC in blood, liver, muscle, and eggs, with the highest concentration at 19.2 ng/g wet weight. However, perfluorodecanoic acid levels (less than the limit of detection [LOD] to 0.963 ng/g wet wt) were similar to or slightly higher than perfluoroundecanoic acid levels (