First insights into per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance contamination in edible fish species of the Indus water system of Pakistan

Rahat Riaz; Muhammad Yasir Abdur Rehman; Muhammad Junaid; Taimoor Iqbal; Jawad Aslam Khan; Yanran Dong; Linxia Yue; Yupeng Chen; Nan Xu; Riffat Naseem Malik

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140970

First insights into per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance contamination in edible fish species of the Indus water system of Pakistan

Chemosphere. 2024 Feb:349:140970. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140970. Epub 2023 Dec 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Health Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
² Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China; Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510641, China.
³ Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, 518055, China. Electronic address: xunan@pkusz.edu.cn.
⁵ Environmental Health Laboratory, Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Electronic address: r_n_malik@qau.edu.pk.

PMID: 38114020
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140970

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of emerging contaminants, that have a wide range of applications in industrial and commercial products. The direct discharge of untreated industrial and domestic wastewater into freshwater bodies is a common practice in developing countries, which are the main contributors to PFASs in the aquatic environment. The situation is further worsened due to poor wastewater treatment facilities and weak enforcement of environmental regulations in countries like Pakistan. The current study was designed to assess PFASs contamination in muscle tissues of edible fish species from major tributaries of the Indus System, including Head Panjnad (HP), Head Trimmu (HT), Chashma Barrage (CB), Head Blloki (HB) and Head Qadirabad (HQ). The analysis of target PFAS was performed using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a quadrupole Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry. The highest levels of ∑17PFASs were observed in S. seenghala, C. mirigala from HB, and C. mirigala from HQ with a mean value of 45.4 ng g-1, 43.7 ng g-1, and 40.8 ng g-1, respectively. Overall, the compositional profile of fish samples was predominated by long-chain PFASs such as PFOA, PFOS, PFHpS, and PFDS. The accumulation of PFASs in fish species is dependent on the physiochemical properties of PFASs, characteristics of the aquatic environment, and fish species. Significant associations of PFASs with isotopic composition (p < 0.05), feeding habits (p < 0.05), and zones (p < 0.05) indicate that dietary proxies could be an important predictor of PFASs distribution among species. The C7-C10 PFASs exhibited bio-accumulative tendency with an accumulation factor ranging from 0.5 to 3.4. However, none of the fish samples had sufficiently high levels of PFOS to cause human health risk (HR < 1). For future studies, it is s recommended to conduct seasonal monitoring and the bioaccumulation pattern along trophic levels of both legacy and emerging PFASs.

Keywords: Bio-accumulation factor; Edible fish; Emerging contaminants; Health risk; Indus river tributaries; Long-chain PFASs.

MeSH terms

Alkanesulfonic Acids* / analysis
Animals
Environmental Monitoring
Fishes
Fluorocarbons* / analysis
Humans
Pakistan
Water / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Water
Alkanesulfonic Acids
Fluorocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical