Distribution, source characterization and inventory of perfluoroalkyl substances in Taihu Lake, China. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guo, Changsheng; Zhang, Yuan; Zhao, Xin; Du, Ping; Liu, Sisi; Lv, Jiapei; Xu, Fengxia; Meng, Wei; Xu, Jian
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 127(2015)
• Page Start: 201
• Page End: 207
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) -- Source -- Inventory -- Taihu Lake; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.053
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Highlights: PFOA and PFHxA were the dominant compounds in surface water in Taihu Lake. PFOS was dominant in the sediments, accounting for 15–85% of ΣPFAS. The majority of PFAS was from direct emissions from manufacturing processes. Risks of PFOA and PFOS in water to benthic organisms were low. The mass inventory of ΣPFCA and PFOS in the sediments were calculated. Abstract: The levels, distribution, possible sources, and inventory of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in the eutrophic freshwater Taihu Lake, East China were investigated in this study. Among the target 11 PFAAs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (2.15–73.9 ng L −1 ) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) (<LOQ-22.2 ng L −1 ) were the dominant components in surface water, followed by perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) with the maximum concentration of 10.5 ng L −1 . PFOS was also dominant (0.13–6.95 ng g −1 dw) in the sediments, accounting for 15–85% of ΣPFAAs concentrations in 70% of the sediment samples. Sediment-water partitioning coefficients showed that log K OC increased linearly with the increasing chain length, with the log K OC values increased by 0.1–0.4 log unit with each CF2 moiety from C8 to C12 perfluorinated carboxylic acids. Three specific molecular ratios, PFOS/PFOA, PFOA/PFNA and PFHpA/PFOA were used to characterize the potential sources. It indicated that the majority of pollutants was from direct emissions from manufacturing processes. The PFOA/PFNA ratios between 1.7 and 56.8 in surface water suggested the influence of secondary sources such as the degradation of volatile precursor substances. Given the high ratios of PFHpA/PFOA (0.05–7.93), it also indicated the influence from atmospheric deposition to the epilimnion. The predicted environmental concentrations were calculated from European Union system for the evaluation of substances model (EUSES). As expected, the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of PFOS in sediment fit well to the monitored level of PFOS in this region, and the inventory of ΣPFCA and PFOS were estimated to be 989 kg and 646 kg in Taihu Lake.