Salmon don't retain PFAS 'forever chemicals' like other animals, study finds

PFAS may be “forever chemicals,” but salmon — unlike humans and many other animals — apparently do not retain these pollutants in large quantities when they consume feed containing now-common levels of PFAS, according to a new study published in the journal npj Emerging Contaminants.

For the study, researchers fed salmon diets spiked with six common PFAS chemicals — PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFDA and PFBS — for 70 days before collecting tissues and blood for analysis. Despite the PFAS in their feed, contamination of the fish tissues remained below current EU food safety limits.