Invasive Burmese Pythons: Sentinels for PFAS Pollution in the Everglades via HPLC-MS/MS Analysis

Invasive Burmese pythons are excellent for tracking chemical pollution in the Florida Everglades. Because they live a long time and are top predators that eat almost anything, their bodies easily collect and store pollutants, providing a clear picture of the ecosystem's health. Additionally, because the state is already trying to remove these invasive snakes, scientists can safely test them for chemicals instead of disturbing vulnerable, native animals. This has resulted in a study where livers from 67 pythons, collected within or near the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, were monitored for 30 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). A paper based on this work was published in Science of the Total Environment.¹

Previous research has been conductedconcerning the history and impact of nutrient pollution, the management of water flow, and their overall impact on the Everglades ecosystem, as well as water and environmental quality studies.^2,3 Besides pollution, shrinking water levels, and habitat loss, another major threat to the Florida Everglades is the growing number of invasive species. These outside plants and animals pose a massive danger to local wildlife because they can spread new diseases, mess up the food chain, and steal vital food and space from the native species that belong there.⁴Burmese pythons are one of the biggest threats to the Florida Everglades. Originally brought to South Florida in the 1980s for the exotic pet trade, these massive snakes multiplied and took over the area after just a few were let go or escaped from their owners.⁵Pythons hold great potential for measuring pollution because of their eating habits. Since they are top predators that eat a wide variety of animals from both land and water, their bodies provide an excellent snapshot of the health of the entire local environment.^6,7 In addition, because pythons can live a long time (over 30 years) and swallow their food whole, they absorb all the pollution trapped inside whatever they eat. This makes them the ultimate sponges for soaking up and building up pollution in the ecosystem.⁸

Across all python livers examined in the study, linear perfluorooctanesulfonic acid was the most prominent PFAS by both frequency (93%) and concentration (median 89 ng/g dw). While no statistical difference was determined in PFAS concentrations in livers collected from pythons sampled from eastern and western sampling locations (surrounding the Everglades), a sex-based difference was observed. Overall, males had a statistically higher ∑PFAS concentration (p < 0.0001) when compared to females. Further, females tended to have lower ∑PFAS concentrations as they become longer and heavier, suggesting potential maternal transfer. The median ∑PFAS concentration was 111 ng/g dw, which exceeded that observed in livers collected from native apex predators, American alligators.¹

“For Everglades conservation,” write the authors of the paper,¹ “strategies that assess pollution without impacting vulnerable or endemic native species are critical. The use of invasive Burmese pythons given current removal programs for this apex predator, make this species a well-suited sentinel to assess the broader impacts of the health of the Everglades. The Everglades and endemic wildlife are under constant threats (e.g., pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, hydrologic changes, climate change, among others), thus having suitable sentinels, which are already harvested, allow for an opportunistic solution in monitoring the health of the ecosystem. Even further, as it has been postulated that reptiles are highly sensitive to changes in their environment, pythons may serve as valuable models for understanding PFAS bioaccumulation and potential human health impacts.”

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References

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2. Osborne, T. Z.; Newman, S.; Scheidt, D. J. et al. Landscape Patterns of Significant Soil Nutrients and Contaminants in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem: Past, Present, and Future. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 41, 121-148. DOI: 10.1080/10643389.2010.530930
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