A peer-reviewed study found that many seafood products harvested in Alaska contain low or non-detectable levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as "forever chemicals."
Researchers investigated PFAS concentrations in Alaskan seafood that was commercially harvested, analyzing edible tissue from 11 fish and shellfish species comprising five species of salmon, as well as halibut, cod, pollock, sablefish, bairdi crab, and red king crab.
“This study provides an important scientific baseline for commercially harvested Alaska seafood,” Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) Technical Director John Burrows, who was a co-author on the study, said in a release. “By testing seafood collected across Alaska’s major fishing regions, the research adds peer-reviewed data that can help inform consumers, seafood buyers, and public health officials.”
Published in peer-reviewed journal Toxicology Reports, the study was funded through a NOAA Fisheries Saltonstall-Kennedy grant with additional support from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Environmental Health and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Out of the 40 PFAS compounds tested, only 10 were detected. Of those 10, most detectable measurements were below the limit of qualification. For the five species of Pacific salmon tested, none of the PFAS concentrations detected were above laboratory qualification limits, while coho salmon samples showed no detectable PFAS at all. Red king crab also showed zero evidence of PFAS.
PFAS did show up above trace levels in bairdi crab samples and in one of seven pollock composite samples.
The samples were collected across the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Southwest Alaska between 2022 and 2024. Samples were tested directly after harvest, so researchers concluded these results accurately correlated to Alaska's marine environment.
"The presence of PFAS in Alaskan fish in this study were consistent with previous studies of seafood from Alaska and other marine environments,” the researchers concluded. “PFAS were not detected or at nominal concentrations in edible tissues of Alaskan commercial seafood. Given the benefits of eating seafood and the minimal PFAS detected, health risk is low for the species tested in this study.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously classified seafood as "one of the highest" categories of food tainted by PFAS.
Though it said data on PFAS in seafood is limited, scientists were able to predict that seafood is at a higher risk for environmental PFAS contamination than other types of food.
In March 2024, the FDA announced plans to crack down on seafood products tainted with PFAS and released an import alert guide for post-detection in 2025. The National Centers for Ocean Science has also been researching PFAS levels in Alaskan seafood since 2021 as a joint project with NOAA.
