Subchronic perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) exposure induces elevated mutant frequency in an in vivo λ transgenic medaka mutation assay

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) has been widely detected in the environment, wildlife and humans, but few studies have ever examined its mutagenic effect in vivo. In the present study, we use a transgenic fish model, the λ transgenic medaka, to evaluate the potential mutagenicity of PFOS in vivo following a subchronic exposure of 30 days. The mutant frequency of cII target gene was 3.46 × 10−5 in liver tissue from control fish, which increased by 1.4-fold to 4.86 × 10−5 in fish exposed to 6.7 μg/L PFOS, 1.55-fold to 5.36 × 10−5 in fish exposed to 27.6 μg/L PFOS, and 2.02-fold to 6.99 × 10−5 in fish exposed to 87.6 μg/L PFOS. This dose-dependent increase of mutant frequency was also accompanied with mutational spectrum changes associated with PFOS exposure. In particular, PFOS-induced mutation was characterized by +1 frameshift mutations, which increased from 0% in control fish to 13.2% in fish exposed to 27.6 μg/L PFOS and 14.6% in fish exposed to 87.6 μg/L PFOS. Our findings provide the first evidence of PFOS’s mutagenicity in an aquatic model system. Given the fact that most conventional mutagenic assays were negative for PFOS, we propose that PFOS-induced mutation in liver tissue of λ transgenic medaka may be mediated through compromised liver function.