Standard Presentation Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting 2023

‘Forever chemicals’: What risk do they pose to estuaries and seafood consumption in the southern Gold Coast? (#86)

Elizabeth West 1 , Kelly Hopewell 2 , Dominic Groth 2 , Simon Walker 1
  1. Ecological Service Professionals, Wynnum, QLD, Australia
  2. City of Gold Coast Council, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

The wide-spread use of Per and Poly-FluoroAlkyl Substances (PFAS) poses a potential risk to marine ecosystems and consumption of seafood. Contamination risk was evaluated in two estuaries, Tallebudgera Creek and Currumbin Creek (Gold Coast), that are popular recreational fishing grounds. Biota from a variety of trophic levels, including species consumed by key environmental sensitive receptors (marine mammals and shorebirds), and recreational fishes, were analysed for a suite of PFAS. Most biota had concentrations of PFAS below the limit of reporting. Where PFAS were detected, biota were from lower trophic levels, with no indication of biomagnification within estuaries. While biota from lower trophic levels are consumed by marine mammals and shorebirds, the risk to these sensitive receptors was reduced due to the wide range of species in their diet, most of which had low concentrations of PFAS. The concentrations of PFAS were below detection limits in all species heavily targeted by recreational fishers. Despite obvious concerns due to the persistent nature of these ‘forever chemicals’, the outcome of this assessment demonstrated that PFAS posed a low risk to estuarine ecosystems and seafood consumption from these two frequently used Gold Coast estuaries.