Comparison study of PFAS in farmed and wild shrimps from Brazil. Are wild shrimps less contaminated than farmed shrimps?

Production and consumption of seafood (such as shrimp) are in increasing demand in Brazil, giving rise to open ocean fisheries in addition to aquaculture. Per – and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of persistent organic pollutants, widely present in the environment, which have adverse effects on human health. Due to the abundant sources of PFAS, shrimps from open ocean fisheries and aquaculture might show different levels and species of PFAS, however, little is available on this topic from the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, farmed and wild shrimps were investigated for more than 30 different legacy and precursor PFAS. We also evaluated extractable organofluorine (EOF), inorganic fluoride, and total fluorine to use a mass balance approach to verify the agreement of the sum of the species with the total fluorine content. Farmed shrimps overall (whole, carapace, tissue) contained a similar concentration of target sum of PFAS when compared to the wild one (2.2 ± 2.4 ng g −1 and 2.7 ± 1.6 ng g −1 respectively, p > 0.05). PFPS and PFdDA were observed only in wild shrimps, while PFNS and PFHpA were observed only in the farmed ones. PFOA, PFDA, PFuDA, PFtrDA and MetFOSAA were found in both types of shrimps. Target PFAS contributed a maximum of 3.9 % of EOF content. Wild shrimps contained almost double the EOF concentration than farmed shrimps (424 ± 104 ng F g −1 and 231 ± 63 ng F g −1 ). PFAS intake through shrimp consumption was calculated to be below the tolerable weekly intake (4.4 ng kg −1 bodyweight, defined by EFSA) using the sum of targeted PFAS, while using EOF it was orders of magnitude higher (between 150 and 1500 ng kg −1 bodyweight), implying potential risk from the exposure to organofluorines. • Farmed and wild shrimps contained similar concentrations of sum of target PFAS. • Wild shrimps contained significantly higher extractable organic fluorine and total fluorine than farmed shrimps. • Target analysis accounted for a max of 3.9 % of extractable organofluorine. • Extractable organofluorine accounted for max 35.6 % of total fluorine. • Organofluorine intake could be orders of magnitude higher than the human tolerable weekly intake.