Occurrence and distribution of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in natural forest soils: A nationwide study in China
Abstract
Forests serve as the primary reservoir for organic carbon above ground. Previous studies have revealed that forest soils play key roles in the retention of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In this study, the occurrence and distribution of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) were investigated in 54 surface soil samples from 28 natural forested mountain sites across China between 2012 and 2013. The detection frequency of PFOA (70%) was significantly higher than that of PFOS (4%). PFOA levels ranged from <0.9 to 9.0 pg·g-1 dry weight (dw). Levels of PFOA and PFOS in forest soils were significantly lower than those in agricultural, urban and rural areas in China. Relatively high levels of PFOA were detected in Hubei Province (Jiugong Mountain, average: 3.4 pg·g-1 dw) and Jiangxi Province (Wugong Mountain, average: 4.4 pg·g-1 dw), where many domestic fluoropolymer manufacturers are located. PFOS was only detected in these two provinces (2.2 pg·g-1 dw and 2.7 pg·g-1 dw, respectively). From most of the surveyed mountains, the concentrations of PFOA increased with elevation. The lower temperature and greater precipitation probably made PFOA and its precursors available to transport and degrade more readily at higher altitude sites. A relatively higher level (1.9 ± 1.3 pg·g-1 dw) of PFOA was found in the broadleaf evergreen forest area, mainly due to the high industrial emissions, plant retention, and precipitation rate in this area. Source were…
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Maximum reported PFOA and PFOS concentrations in Wang et al. (2018) were 0.01 and 0.003 μg/kg, respectively.
“Maximum reported PFOA and PFOS concentrations were 0.01 and 0.003 μg/kg, respectively.”
From PFAS concentrations in soils: Background levels versus contaminated sites (2020) · cites this paper as Wang et al. (2018)
Wang et al. (2018) consists of samples from 28 unpopulated forested sites in mountainous regions of China, located tens to several hundred km from industrial or municipal sources of PFOA and PFOS.
“The study by Wang et al. (2018) is noteworthy as it consists of samples collected from 28 unpopulated forested sites located in mountainous regions of China. The sampling sites were located tens to several hundred km from industrial or municipal sources of PFOA and PFOS.”
From PFAS concentrations in soils: Background levels versus contaminated sites (2020) · cites this paper as Wang et al. (2018)
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PFAS concentrations in soils: Background levels versus contaminated sites
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- Authors
- Wang, Q., Zhao, Z., Ruan, Y., Li, J., Sun, H., & Zhang, G.
- Affiliations
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Nankai University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhao, Zhen
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-12
- Volume
- 645
- Pages
- 596-602
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2883712635
- Cited by
- 66
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 3.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (SKLOG-201609)
- National Basic Research Program of the P.R. China (2017YFC0212000)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41603101, 41573097)
- 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 › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOS, forest soils, persistent organic pollutants, natural forests, spatial distribution, elevation gradient, source apportionment, mountain soils, China
- MeSH terms
- Caprylates, China, Environmental Monitoring, Fluorocarbons, Soil, Soil Pollutants, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Forests
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