Occurrence and Ecological Risk Assessment of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Water and Sediment from an Urban River in South China
Abstract
The chemical substances in urban rivers influence municipal water systems and reflect the recent use of these chemicals by humans or industries around the urban center. In this study, seven perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)-perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), 2-perfluorohexyl ethanol (6:2 FTOH), 2-perfluorooctyl ethanol (8:2 FTOH), and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acids (F-53B)-could be detected and quantified in river water and sediment samples collected from one tributary of the Liuxi River, which is part of Pearl River near Guangzhou in Guangdong province, South China. The fluxes of target PFASs into Liuxi River and their related ecological risks were further estimated. The total concentrations of PFASs (ΣPFASs) ranged from 506 to 3.16 × 10 3 ng/L in water samples and 9.13 to 850 ng/L in sediment samples. The two dominant PFAS compounds were 6:2 FTOH and PFHpA, which accounted for more than 90.0% of ΣPFASs in river water and sediment. Correlation analysis showed that there was significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between two selected PFASs (e.g., between 6:2 FTOH and PFHpA). Correlation analysis of PFASs in river water and sediment indicated most PFASs in sediment were partitioned from river water. The ecological risk assessment indicated that the detected PFASs have a low risk (HQ < 0.1) in river water and sediment to Daphnia magna in the Liuxi River.
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In 16 urban river samples in China, FTOH represented a median of 53% of the total PFAS (range 46-62%).
“In the 16 urban river samples in China 34 and eight river samples in Bangladesh 33 , FTOH represented a median of 53% of the total PFAS (range of 46 to 62%) and 2% (ranging from 0.9 to 34%), respectively.”
From Underestimated burden of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in global surface waters and groundwaters (2024) · cites this paper as [34]
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- Authors
- Si, Y., Huang, J., Liang, Z., Liu, G., Chen, D., Guo, Y., & Wang, F.
- Affiliations
- Yangjiang Polytechnic (CN)
- Jinan University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Fei
- Venue
- Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
- Published
- 2021-05-26
- Volume
- 81
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 133-141
- ISSN
- 0090-4341 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-0703
- OpenAlex
- W3164572770
- Cited by
- 42
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 1.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Guangdong (China) Innovative and Enterpreneurial Research Team Program (2016ZT06N258)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (21637001)
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (21617454)
- the Characteristic Innovation Talent Project of Guangdong Province (2019GKTSCX123)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
- Keywords
- perfluorinated compounds, PFAS contamination, urban river water, river sediments, Pearl River, PFHpA, 6-2-FTOH, sediment-water partitioning, environmental risk assessment, Daphnia magna
- MeSH terms
- China, Environmental Monitoring, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Water, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Risk Assessment, Rivers
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