Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID CT_2024_Grimmelpont

Influence of salinity on PFAS impacts in Sheepshead minnows

Institute: Connecticut
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $30,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $30,000

Principal Investigators: Margot Grimmelpont

Project Summary: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are now ubiquitous environmental contaminants due to their extensive use and long half-lives. The health risks and impacts associated with PFAS exposure are a growing concern worldwide as these chemicals bioaccumulate in biota and cause a wide range of effects. So far, information about the health effects of PFAS for organisms come from experiments using single PFAS compounds and few have used a mixture of PFAS, which is more representative of the environmental exposure for fish. Little is known about the potential contribution of abiotic factors on the exposure and impacts of PFAS. Among them, salinization of freshwater systems due to the extensive use of road salts is an overarching water quality concern in northern temperate regions, including Connecticut. Runoff from road salts increases salinity concentrations in groundwater and surface water and negatively affects species at all trophic levels. We hypothesize that elevated dissolved chloride concentrations will affect PFAS absorption, tissue accumulation, and toxicity in sheepshead minnows (SHM). In a lab-based experiment, we propose exposing SHM to a mixture of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFHxA) under various salinity regimes with the following objectives: Objective 1: Examine salinity mediation on accumulation of PFAS in SHM tissues. Objective 2: Assess the influence of salinity on the toxicity of PFAS in SHM through the measurement of health endpoints (reproduction, swimming and metabolic performances, somatic indices). This study is highly relevant as the endpoints selected are important indicators of the ecological fitness of individuals and disruption from the interaction between the salinity and PFAS could affect changes at the population level. Furthermore, this study would be one of the first to evaluate PFAS mixtures and salinity interactions and their impacts on a small-bodied fish, two stressors of particular concern which may overlap in time and space in Connecticut's freshwater environments. The knowledge gained from this project will be useful at local to national scales and inform state and federal agencies on pollution management. Finally, the experienced team of this proposed project will provide an exceptional learning environment for the early career scientist involved.