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5079952 
Journal Article 
Perfluoroalkyl acids in fish of Italian deep lakes: Environmental and human risk assessment 
Mazzoni, M; Buffo, A; Cappelli, F; Pascariello, S; Polesello, S; Valsecchi, S; Volta, P; Bettinetti, R 
2019 
1 
Science of the Total Environment
ISSN: 0048-9697
EISSN: 1879-1026 
653 
351-358 
English 
30412880 
WOS:000458626800036 
is supplemented by 11350769 Supplement:
Determination of 20 PFASs in a fish species (Alosa agone) of commercial interest has been carried out in five Italian subalpine lakes to assess the risk for humans and predators for fish consumption. PFOS still presents the highest concentrations (0.9-16.6ngg-1ww) among the analysed PFASs, in spite of its normative restrictions. PFOS concentrations measured in all lakes, except in Lake Maggiore, are homogeneous with an average of 3.1±1.9ngg-1ww, which could be considered the "anthropogenic background concentration" of PFOS in fish of lakes located in an industrialised and urbanised region but without point sources. In Lake Maggiore, fish concentrations always exceed the EU EQSbiota (9.1ngg-1ww) based on human fish consumption. Considering the effective consumption of fish in this area, an actual risk for fish consumption by humans is not evidenced, while a moderate risk of secondary poisoning for predators is highlighted. PFOA has been detected in significant concentration only in one sample in Lake Maggiore, while long chain PFCAs have been detected without significant differences among the lakes (0.3 to 2.7ngg-1ww). The present study demonstrates that biota monitoring of fish can be used as a valuable tool to classify the quality status of water bodies regarding bioaccumulative PFAAs, even if the water concentrations are close to the reachable detection limits. 
PFAS; PFOS; Lakes; Human risk; European water framework directive