Different biotransformation behaviors of perfluorooctane sulfonamide in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from earthworms (Eisenia fetida)

Shuyan Zhao; Tao Zhou; Bohui Wang; Lingyan Zhu; Meng Chen; Dandan Li; Liping Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.12.018

Different biotransformation behaviors of perfluorooctane sulfonamide in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from earthworms (Eisenia fetida)

J Hazard Mater. 2018 Mar 15:346:191-198. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.12.018. Epub 2017 Dec 16.

Authors

Shuyan Zhao¹, Tao Zhou¹, Bohui Wang¹, Lingyan Zhu², Meng Chen³, Dandan Li³, Liping Yang³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering, School of Food and Environment, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, Liaoning 124221, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China; College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shanxi 712100, PR China. Electronic address: zhuly@nankai.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China.

PMID: 29275108
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.12.018

Abstract

Perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA) is a precursor of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and can be broken down to PFOS in environment and biota. In the present work, PFOSA was spiked in soil and its biodegradation in soil, uptake and metabolism in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and earthworms (Eisenia fetida) were investigated. The results indicated that PFOSA could be biodegraded to highly stable PFOS, which has the same perfluorinated carbon chain length as PFOSA, by microbes in soil. PFOSA could be taken up by wheat root and earthworm from soil with higher bioaccumulation ability than PFOS. In both wheat and earthworms, PFOSA also degraded to PFOS. However, other shorter-chain perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs), including perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), were observed in wheat, but not in soil and earthworms, suggesting that wheat displayed distinctly different degradation mechanisms to PFOSA from soil microbes and earthworms.

Keywords: Biotransformation; Earthworm; PFOSA; PFSAs; Wheat.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biotransformation
Fluorocarbons / metabolism*
Oligochaeta / metabolism*
Plant Roots / metabolism
Plant Shoots / metabolism
Soil Microbiology
Soil Pollutants / metabolism*
Sulfonamides / metabolism*
Triticum / metabolism*

Substances

Fluorocarbons
Soil Pollutants
Sulfonamides