A team of scientists from Japan and China has identified a range of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in the blood of Chinese alligators kept at the Anhui Research Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction.

They detected six PFCs, which are used in waterproof and non-stick coatings, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) was the most dominant PFC.

The scientists observed significantly higher PFOS and PFUnDA levels in males than in females, while younger, smaller, alligators had higher blood concentrations of the chemicals.

Meanwhile, a different Chinese team has found that earthworms exposed to soils contaminated with PFCs are more likely to accumulate longer-chain compounds in their bodies. All ten of the PFCs studied accumulated in the earthworms.

Both studies are published in Environmental Pollution.