Spatial distribution and partition of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in rivers of the Pearl River Delta, southern China
Abstract
This study investigated the occurrence of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in surface water from 67 sampling sites along rivers of the Pearl River Delta in southern China. Sixteen PFAAs, including perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs, C5-14, C16 and C18) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs, C4, C6, C8 and C10) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-negative electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS). Total PFAA concentrations (∑ PFAAs) in the surface water ranged from 1.53 to 33.5 ng·L(-1) with an average of 7.58 ng·L(-1). Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were the three most abundant PFAAs and on average accounted for 28%, 16% and 10% of ∑ PFAAs, respectively. Higher concentrations of ∑ PFAAs were found in the samples collected from Jiangmen section of Xijiang River, Dongguan section of Dongjiang River and the Pearl River flowing the cities which had very well-developed manufacturing industries. PCA model was employed to quantitatively calculate the contributions of extracted sources. Factor 1 (72.48% of the total variance) had high loading for perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), PFBS and PFOS. For factor 2 (10.93% of the total variance), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA) got high loading. The sorption of PFCAs on suspended particulate matter (SPM) increased by approximately 0.1 log units for ea…
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Liu et al. observed high concentrations of PFAS (146 ng/L) in 2013 in West Lake.
“Liu et al. (2015) observed high concentrations of PFAS (146 ng/L) in 2013 in West Lake”
From Per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as a contaminant of emerging concern in surface water: A transboundary review of their occurrences and toxicity effects (2021) · cites this paper as Liu et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Liu, B., Zhang, H., Xie, L., Li, J., Wang, X., Zhao, L., Wang, Y., & Yang, B.
- Affiliations
- Tianjin University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Shenzhen University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Hong
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-08
- Volume
- 524-525
- Pages
- 1-7
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1973632574
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (11275130, 21177089, 21407108, 31200407)
- Science and Technology Research Project of the Education Department of Jilin Province (2014518)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fluoride Effects and Removal
- Keywords
- perfluoroalkyl acids, Pearl River Delta, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOS, PFBS, source apportionment, perfluorinated carboxylic acids, industrial pollution, environmental fate
- MeSH terms
- Caproates, Caprylates, China, Environmental Monitoring, Fluorocarbons, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Rivers
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