A meta-analysis reveals PFAS concentrations double with each trophic level across aquatic and terrestrial food webs

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This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. You must log in to post a comment. There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 1 of this Preprint. Add a Comment You must log in to post a comment. Comments There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) threaten ecosystems worldwide due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Through a global-scale meta-analysis of 122 aquatic and terrestrial food webs from 64 studies, we analyse 1,009 trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for 72 PFAS and identify key variability drivers. PFAS concentrations systematically doubled with each trophic level increase (mean TMF=2.00, 95% CI:1.64-2.45), confirming widespread biomagnification across ecosystems. Methodological disparities across studies emerged as the dominant source of TMF variability. Our models explained 84% of the variation in TMFs, underscoring predictive capacity. Notably, the industrial alternative F-53B exhibited the highest magnification (TMF=3.07, 95% CI:2.41-3.92), a critical finding given its expanding use and minimal regulatory scrutiny. This synthesis establishes PFAS as persistent trophic multipliers and provides a framework to prioritise high-risk compounds and harmonise biomagnification assessments. Our results call for consideration of stricter PFAS regulation to curb cascading ecological and health impacts. https://doi.org/10.32942/X2SP92 Other Environmental Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology forever chemicals, Pollution, PFOS, PFOA, food chain Published: 2025-02-11 22:27 Last Updated: 2025-02-12 03:27 CC BY Attribution 4.0 International Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Data and Code Availability Statement: Raw data and analysis code are available at the provided GitHub link (https://github.com/ThisIsLorenzo/PFAS_Trophic_Magnification) Language: English

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