Zebrafish Developmental Neurotoxicity of PFMOAA – an Emerging PFAS in the Cape Fear River Watershed

Abstract

Perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA) is an understudied but highly detected per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) in the lower Cape Fear River. Despite high environmental detection, little is known about the toxicity of this chemical. This study is the first which assesses the developmental neurotoxicity of PFMOAA at environmentally relevant concentrations (0.01 µM-1000 µM) in a zebrafish model. Neurobehavioral effects following developmental exposure to PFMOAA were assessed in larval, juvenile, and adolescent developmental stages, finding that PFMOAA is capable of significantly altering neurobehavior throughout zebrafish development. Additionally, zebrafish which were exposed to a complex environmental mixture with high PFMOAA concentrations showed similar neurobehavioral effects with individuals exposed to PFMOAA alone, suggesting the chemical is acting at environmentally relevant concentrations and warrants further investigation.