Exposure to PFAS is associated with telomere length dynamics and demographic responses of an arctic top predator

International audience

English. Environmental factors that can influence telomeres are diverse, but the association between telomeres and exposure to environmental contaminants is far to be elucidated. To date, prior studies focused on legacy persistent chlorinated pollutants POPs, while the effects of poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have poorly been documented. Here, we investigated the associations among PFAS congeners, absolute telomere length (cross-sectional approach), and telomere dynamics (rate of telomere length change over time, longitudinal approach), in one of the most contaminated arctic top predators, the glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus from Svalbard. We further estimated the effect of PFAS on apparent survival rates and re-sighting probabilities using a 10-year capture/recapture dataset (2010-2019). We found that birds exposed to higher concentration of perfluorononadecanoate PFNA (median of 1565 pg/mL of ww in males and 1370 pg/mL of ww in females) and perfluorotetradecanoate PFTeDA (median of 370 pg/mL of ww in males and 210 pg/mL of ww in females) showed the slowest rate of telomere shortening. We also found that high blood concentration of perfluorooctanoate PFOA (median of 120 pg/mL of ww in males and 150 pg/mL of ww in females) and perfluorohexanesulfonate PFHxS (median of 495 pg/mL of ww in males and 395 pg/mL of ww in females) were positively associated with higher re-sighting probabilities and apparent survival in males but not in females. Our work is the first to report an association between single PFAS compounds and telomeres, and the first to link PFAS exposure with survival probabilities, suggesting that the effect of PFAS exposure might be more tied to the type of compound rather than the total concentration of PFAS.