Spatiotemporal distribution and mass loadings of perfluoroalkyl substances in the Yangtze River of China
Abstract
A systematic investigation into contamination profiles of eighteen perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in both surface water and sediments of Yangtze River was carried out by using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in summer and winter of 2013. The total concentrations of the PFASs in the water and sediment of Yangtze River ranged from 2.2 to 74.56 ng/L and 0.05 to 1.44 ng/g dry weights (dw), respectively. The PFAS concentrations were correlated to some selected water quality parameters such as pH, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and conductivity in water, and some sediment properties, such as total organic carbon (TOC), TP, and TN in sediment. The monitoring results for the water and sediment samples showed no obvious seasonal variations. Among the selected 18 PFASs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the dominant PFAS compound found both in water and sediment for the two seasons with its maximum concentration of 18.03 ng/L in water and 0.72 ng/g in sediment, followed by perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) with its maximum concentration of 41.9 ng/L in water in Wuhan, whereas the lowest concentrations of PFASs were observed at Poyang lake. The annual loadings of PFOA, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), PFBS, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and the total PFASs in the Yangtze River were 6.8 tons, 2.2 tons, 8.2 tons, 0.88 tons, and 20.7 tons, respectively. Wuhan and Er'zhou of Hubei contributed the most amounts of PFASs into the Yangtze River. A correlation was found between some PFASs, for example PFBS and PFOS, which suggests that both of these PFASs originate from common sources in the region.
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No obvious seasonal differences in PFAS levels were found between summer and winter in the Yangtze River.
“Previous study has found that no obvious seasonal variations of PFAS levels exist between summer and winter in the Yangtze River (Pan et al., 2014).”
From Short- and long-chain perfluoroalkyl substances in the water, suspended particulate matter, and surface sediment of a turbid river (2016) · cites this paper as Pan et al., 2014
The Yellow River's total PFAS flux was much lower than the 20.7-ton loading of 18 PFASs from the Yangtze River to the East China Sea.
“The total annual flux of the Yellow River was much lower than the total loading of 18 kinds of PFAS in the Yangtze River to the East China Sea (20.7 tons) (Pan et al., 2014).”
From Short- and long-chain perfluoroalkyl substances in the water, suspended particulate matter, and surface sediment of a turbid river (2016) · cites this paper as Pan et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Pan, C.-G., Ying, G.-G., Zhao, J.-L., Liu, Y.-S., Jiang, Y.-X., & Zhang, Q.-Q.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Ying, Guang-Guo
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-09
- Volume
- 493
- Pages
- 580-587
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2001263311
- Cited by
- 143
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 4.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC U1133005, 41121063)
- National Water Pollution Control Program of China (2014ZX07206-005)
- 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 › Water Science and Technology › Fluoride Effects and Removal
- Keywords
- perfluorinated compounds, PFAS contamination, Yangtze River, surface water, river sediments, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFBS, PFOS, perfluorohexanoic acid, seasonal variation, source apportionment, water quality parameters, sediment characteristics
- MeSH terms
- Caproates, Caprylates, China, Environmental Monitoring, Fluorocarbons, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Rivers, Spatio-Temporal Analysis
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