Oceanographic regime and foraging behaviour structure compound-specific PFAS variability in arctic-atlantic...

Current chemical exposures studies characterise chemical risk through mean-based concentrations, treating individual-level variability as statistical noise. However, this variability may carry structured ecological information that mean-based approaches systematically overlook. Here, we propose that individual per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure variability constitutes a structured ecological signal, shaped by habitat use across oceanographic gradients and individual foraging behaviour, one that mean-based approaches are not designed to capture. To test the variability-as-signal hypothesis, we integrated two independent indices of individual stability using two sympatric guillemot species (Uria aalge, n = 67 and Uria lomvia, n = 45) sampled across five Icelandic colonies during the 2018 breeding season. We paired PFAS variability scores, derived from plasma PFAS concentrations, with isotopic consistency scores derived from dual-tissue stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N in plasma and red blood cells). These consistency scores represent individual foraging stability across the breeding season, enabling a reconstruction of foraging histories and oceanographic habitat use. Our results reveal that PFAS variability is highly structured by compound class, dominated by long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs; 79% of variance) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS; 13%). Cluster analysis identified two main divergent exposure states: constrained PFOS variability versus constrained PFCA variability. Bivariate segmented regression revealed a hierarchical structure to contaminant acquisition: oceanographic regime (proxied by δ¹³C_consist) functioned as the primary driver, with PFOS variability intensifying in Atlantic-influenced waters. Within these regimes, trophic sources (proxied by δ¹⁵N_consist) emerged as a secondary, conditional modulator, specifically constraining PFCA variability among high-trophic individuals. At the colony scale, fine-scale niche partitioning, such as vertical foraging strategies and individual specialisation using glacial fjords and ice margins, produced compound-specific patterns that diverged from regional hierarchies. As climate change continues to redistribute Arctic and Atlantic water masses and reshape the food web structures, approaches that treat contaminant variability as ecological signal will be increasingly valuable for anticipating exposure regime shifts.