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Scientists from Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with partners in Greenland and Canada, have identified a previously undocumented class of PFAS (poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances) in the blubber of killer whales.
The new study, published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, reveals the presence of five fluorotelomer sulfones—highly fluorinated, lipophilic (fat-loving) chemicals never before reported in wildlife. Unlike well studied PFAS, which typically accumulate in protein-rich tissues such as liver and blood, these new substances accumulate in fat-rich blubber.
“This is the first time that highly fluorinated PFAS has been shown to preferentially accumulate in fat,” says lead author Mélanie Lauria, formerly a doctoral student at the Department of Environmental Science at Stockholm University and currently at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG).
