This study was performed to evaluate the stability of the fatty acid (FA) composition of blubber from Baltic grey seals Halichoerus grypus archived at −25°C in the Swedish Environmental Specimen Bank (SESB). Possible alterations of FA compositions with storage time and temperature were evaluated. Blubber from 5 seals was kept at +2°C and at −20°C and sampled for up to 6 mo and 33 mo, respectively. Furthermore, FA profile stability was evaluated in blubber stored in the SESB for 4 and 6 yr. This was done by re-sampling and re-analyzing blubber samples from SESB. In both parts of the study, a principal component analysis was performed on 48 FAs comprising 98 to 99% of the total FAs in blubber of Baltic grey seals. We found no indication of a critically altered FA composition, neither in blubber stored at +2°C for 6 mo nor in blubber stored at −20°C for 33 mo. The re-analysis of samples stored in SESB for ~4 to 6 yr only differed for a few FAs in some samples. The most remarkable differences were a slight increase in some long-chain unsaturated FAs (18:2n-6, 20:3n-3, 20:4n-3, 22:4n-3). As an increase in long-chain polyunsaturated FAs due to storage is highly unlikely, we believe that this is probably more due to the sampling technique than to a critically altered FA composition due to storage. Our results suggest that archived seal blubber may be safely used in retrospective analyses of diet using an FA signature analysis technique.
Livers of caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Canada (n = 146), Greenland (n = 30), Svalbard (n = 7), and Sweden(n = 60) were analyzed for concentrations of eight perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and four perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids. InCanadian caribou, PFNA (range < 0.01–7.4 ng/g wet weight, ww) and PFUnDA (<0.01–5.6 ng/g ww) dominated, whereasPFOS predominated in samples from South Greenland, Svalbard, and Sweden, although the highest concentrations were found incaribou from Southwest Greenland (up to 28 ng/g ww). We found the highest median concentrations of all PFAS except PFHxSin Akia-Maniitsoq caribou (Southwest Greenland, PFOS 7.2–19 ng/g ww, median 15 ng/g ww). The highest concentrations ofΣPFAS were also found in Akia-Maniitoq caribou (101 ng/g ww) followed by the nearby Kangerlussuaq caribou (45 ng/g ww),where the largest airport in Greenland is situated, along with a former military base. Decreasing trends in concentrations wereseen for PFOS in the one Canadian and three Swedish populations. Furthermore, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, andPFTrDA showed decreasing trends in Canada’s Porcupine caribou between 2005 and 2016. In Sweden, PFHxS increased inthe reindeer from Norrbotten between 2003 and 2011. The reindeer from Västerbotten had higher concentrations of PFNA andlower concentrations of PFHxS in 2010 compared to 2002. Finally, we observed higher concentrations in 2010 compared to 2002(albeit statistically insignificant) for PFHxS in Jämtland, while PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA, PFDoDA, and PFTrDA showed nodifference at all.