Emerging poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in water and sediment from Qiantang River-Hangzhou Bay

Haixiang Cheng; Hangbiao Jin; Bin Lu; Chenhan Lv; Yinghui Ji; Hui Zhang; Rui Fan; Nan Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162687

Emerging poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in water and sediment from Qiantang River-Hangzhou Bay

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jun 1:875:162687. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162687. Epub 2023 Mar 10.

Authors

Haixiang Cheng¹, Hangbiao Jin², Bin Lu³, Chenhan Lv⁴, Yinghui Ji⁴, Hui Zhang⁵, Rui Fan⁶, Nan Zhao²

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemical and Material Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, PR China. Electronic address: chenghaixiang@qzc.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032, PR China.
³ Zhejiang Yilong Environmental Protection Technology Co., Taiyue Digital Port, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou 311202, PR China.
⁴ College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, PR China.
⁵ Zhongyuan Energy Company Limited, Beijing 100084, PR China.
⁶ College of Chemical and Material Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou, Zhejiang 324000, PR China.

PMID: 36906013
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162687

Abstract

Many emerging poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are being used in China, due to the gradual phase out of legacy PFASs. Occurrence and environmental behaviors of emerging PFASs in Chinese fresh water environment are still not well known. In this study, 31 PFASs, including 14 emerging PFASs, were measured in 29 pairs of water and sediment samples from Qiantang River-Hangzhou Bay, an important drinking water resource for cities in Yangtze River basin. Perfluorooctanoate was consistently the predominant legacy PFAS in water (8.8-130 ng/L) and sediment (3.7-49 ng/g dw). Twelve emerging PFASs were detected in water, with the dominance of 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonates (6:2 Cl-PFAES; mean 11 ng/L, 0.79-57 ng/L) and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS; 5.6 ng/L, < LOD-29 ng/L). Eleven emerging PFASs were found in sediment, and were also dominated by 6:2 Cl-PFAES (mean 4.3 ng/g dw, 0.19-16 ng/g dw) and 6:2 FTS (2.6 ng/g dw, < LOD-9.4 ng/g dw). Spatially, sampling sites closed to the surrounding cities had comparatively higher water concentrations of PFASs. Among emerging PFASs, 8:2 Cl-PFAES (3.0 ± 0.34) had the highest mean field-based log-transformed organic‑carbon normalized sediment-water partition coefficient (log K_oc), followed by 6:2 Cl-PFAES (2.9 ± 0.35) and hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (2.8 ± 0.32). p-perfluorous nonenoxybenzene sulfonate (2.3 ± 0.60) and 6:2 FTS (1.9 ± 0.54) had relatively lower mean log K_oc values. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study investigating the occurrence and partitioning behaviors of emerging PFASs in Qiantang River.

Keywords: 6:2 Cl-PFAES; Emerging PFASs; Estuarine environment; HFPO-TA; Water-sediment partitioning.