Ecological risk assessment for perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) in soil using species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach

Yanju Liu; Md Mezbaul Bahar; S V A Chamila Samarasinghe; Fangjie Qi; Sandra Carles; William R Richmond; Zhaomin Dong; Ravi Naidu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129667

Ecological risk assessment for perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) in soil using species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach

J Hazard Mater. 2022 Oct 5:439:129667. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129667. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Authors

Yanju Liu¹, Md Mezbaul Bahar², S V A Chamila Samarasinghe³, Fangjie Qi⁴, Sandra Carles⁵, William R Richmond⁶, Zhaomin Dong⁷, Ravi Naidu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Yanju.liu@newcastle.edu.au.
² Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Mezbaul.bahar@newcastle.edu.au.
³ Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: chamila.samarasinghe@newcastle.edu.au.
⁴ Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: Fangjie.qi@newcastle.edu.au.
⁵ BHP, 125 St Georges Tce, Perth, WA 6000, Australia. Electronic address: Sandra.carles@bhp.com.
⁶ Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, Government of Western Australia, 8 Davidson Terrace, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia. Electronic address: bill.richmond@dwer.wa.gov.au.
⁷ School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijging 100191, China. Electronic address: dongzm@buaa.edu.cn.
⁸ Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: ravi.naidu@newcastle.edu.au.

PMID: 36104899
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129667

Abstract

Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) is one of the persistent organic pollutants that has been recommended to be listed in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention. It has gained increasing attention in recent years due to its toxic effects. The guideline values of PFHxS are commonly associated with PFOS in various countries and regulatory agencies. In this study, multispecies bioassays were conducted to determine the ecological toxic effects of PFHxS, including plants, soil invertebrates, and soil microorganisms, which indicated the EC10/NOEC values ranged from 2.9 to 250 mg/kg. Where possible, logistic models were used to calculate the EC30 values for various endpoints. The species sensitivity distributions were employed to estimate the ecological investigation levels for PFHxS contamination in soils using toxicity results from literature and this study. The calculation using EC10/NOEC values from both literature and this study indicated a most conservative HC5 as 1.0 mg/kg (hazardous concentration for 5 % of the species being impacted). However, utilisation of EC30 values derived from this study resulted in a much higher HC5 for PFHxS in contaminated soils (13.0 mg/kg) which is at the higher end of the existing guideline values for PFOS for protecting ecological systems. The results obtained in this study can be useful in risk assessment processes to minimize any uncertainty using combined values with PFOS.

Keywords: EC10/NOEC; EC30; Ecological toxicity; Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS); Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD).

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Animals
Fluorocarbons
Invertebrates
Risk Assessment
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Soil Pollutants* / toxicity
Soil*
Sulfonic Acids

Substances

Fluorocarbons
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Sulfonic Acids
perfluorohexanesulfonic acid