Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent, ubiquitous pollutants. It is important to continuously monitor the presence of PFAS contamination, utilizing both legacy and new sentinels. In this study, environmental PFAS levels were evaluated using ticks as a sentinel model due to their world-wide distribution, hematophagous nature, and ease of collection and sampling. Hematophagy in discrete blood meals, from a suite of vertebrates, allows ticks to sample dozens of species of consumers and bioaccumulation across communities. Four different species of ticks, across two states (NY, n = 28 in mid-April of 2020 and FL, n = 32 between 2015 and 2020) with two sampling sites in each state were analyzed for the presence of 53 PFAS. The total PFAS concentration in ticks was the lowest at Newburgh (NY), a site that has been undergoing remediation efforts, while the highest total PFAS concentrations were measured in ticks at the Sweetwater site, a wastewater treatment wetland. Detection of PFAS and the potential for variation between tick species and between locations are necessary to establish the utility of ticks as sentinels, in addition to assessing additional environmental factors, such as other wildlife, water, or soil.

中文翻译：

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蜱作为监测全氟和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 环境水平的新型哨兵

全氟和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 是环境持久性、普遍存在的污染物。重要的是要持续监测 PFAS 污染的存在，同时利用旧的和新的哨兵。在这项研究中，环境 PFAS 水平使用蜱作为哨兵模型进行评估，因为它们在世界范围内分布、吸血性以及易于收集和采样。来自一组脊椎动物的离散血餐中的噬血允许蜱虫对数十种消费者和整个社区的生物积累进行采样。四种不同种类的蜱，分布在两个州（纽约州，n = 2020 年 4 月中旬的 28 只，佛罗里达州，n= 2015 年至 2020 年之间的 32 个），每个州有两个采样点，分析了 53 种 PFAS 的存在。纽堡 (纽约州) 的蜱中 PFAS 总浓度最低，该地点一直在进行整治工作，而在污水处理湿地 Sweetwater 地点的蜱中总 PFAS 浓度最高。除了评估其他环境因素（如其他野生动物、水或土壤）外，检测 PFAS 和蜱种之间和地点之间的潜在变异对于确定蜱作为哨兵的效用是必要的。