The fate and behavior of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in constructed wetlands: insights into potential removal and transformation pathway
Abstract
Although constructed wetland (CW) technology is widely used to eliminate emerging organic pollutants, the removal pathway of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in CW system have not been fully understood yet. This study aims to deeply probe into the fate and behavior of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in CW system. Findings indicated that the removal efficiency of PFOA by CW system was 49.69-73.63 % with initial concentrations at 100-1000 μg/L. Substrate was the main "sink" of PFOA into the CWs (46.22-50.83 %), and the plant uptake (1.99-2.48 %) accounted for a small proportion. Transformation products in the effluent of CW systems included a series of short-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), hydrogen-containing perfluoroalkanes and other organic fluorides. Activated pathways of xenobiotics biodegradation suggested that enzyme-mediated biochemical reactions might be responsible for the PFOA transformation. The transformation pathway included enzymatic decarboxylation, hydroxylation, hydrolysis, dehydrogenation and dehalogenation, as well as non-enzymatic reactions. These discoveries provide new insights into the in-depth understanding environmental behavior of PFOA in ecosystem and lay the foundation for further ecological remediation.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A complex series of biochemical reactions occurs between PFOA and unsaturated hydrocarbons.
“A complex series of biochemical reactions occurs between PFOA and unsaturated hydrocarbons (Xiao et al., 2023).”
From Molecular characteristics of emerging perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters around fluorine-related industries in a Chinese Megacity (2025) · cites this paper as Xiao et al., 2023
Cites
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the environment
Evich, M. G., Davis, M. J. B., McCord, J. P., Acrey, B., Awkerman, J. A., Knappe, D. R. U., Lindstrom, A. B., Speth, T. F., Tebes-Stevens, C., Strynar, M. J., et al. (2022) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.abg9065 · Cited by 2,157 · see citing works
A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)?
Wang, Z., DeWitt, J. C., Higgins, C. P., & Cousins, I. T. (2017) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b04806 · Cited by 1,921 · see citing works
Gagliano, E., Sgroi, M., Falciglia, P. P., Vagliasindi, F. G. A., & Roccaro, P. (2020) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2019.115381 · Cited by 1,249 · see citing works
Huang, S., & Jaffé, P. R. (2019) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b04047 · Cited by 524 · see citing works
Wackett, L. P. (2022) · Microbial Biotechnology · doi:10.1111/1751-7915.13928 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Degradation of perfluorooctanyl sulfonate by strain pseudomonas plecoglossicida 2.4-D
Chetverikov, S. P., Sharipov, D. A., Korshunova, T. Y., & Loginov, O. N. (2017) · Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology · doi:10.1134/s0003683817050027 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Goukeh, M. N., & Alamdari, N. (2024) · Journal of Environmental Engineering · doi:10.1061/joeedu.eeeng-7478 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Li, S., Liu, J., An, X., Tang, C., Tang, C., Zhang, B., Chen, C., Lin, T., Jones, K. C., & Zhao, Z. (2025) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109444 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Liljeström, O., Rosenquist, D., Kleja, D. B., Enell, A., & Ahrens, L. (2025) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2025.127199 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Xiao, J., Huang, J., Wang, Y., & Qian, X.
- Affiliations
- Southeast University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Huang, Juan
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-02
- Volume
- 861
- Pages
- 160309
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4309475645
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 9
- FWCI
- 4.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Scientific Research Foundation of the Graduate School of Southeast University (YBPY1965)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
- Keywords
- perfluorooctanoic acid, constructed wetlands, PFAS removal, plant uptake, xenobiotic degradation, enzymatic decarboxylation, dehalogenation, non-enzymatic reactions, emerging organic contaminants
- MeSH terms
- Biodegradation, Environmental, Caprylates, Fluorocarbons, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Ecosystem, Wetlands
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
