Legacy and emerging per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in surface seawater from northwestern Pacific to Southern Ocean: Evidences of current and historical release

Guoqiang Shan; Xiang Qian; Xin Chen; Xuemin Feng; Minghong Cai; Liping Yang; Meng Chen; Lingyan Zhu; Shufeng Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125049

Legacy and emerging per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in surface seawater from northwestern Pacific to Southern Ocean: Evidences of current and historical release

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Jun 5:411:125049. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125049. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Authors

Guoqiang Shan¹, Xiang Qian¹, Xin Chen¹, Xuemin Feng¹, Minghong Cai², Liping Yang¹, Meng Chen¹, Lingyan Zhu³, Shufeng Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
² SOA Key Laboratory for Polar Science, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: zhuly@nankai.edu.cn.
⁴ Unit 124 of No. 65735 Troop, Dandong 118000, China.

PMID: 33453666
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125049

Abstract

Knowledge on distribution of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in open oceans is limited. By taking part in the 32nd Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition, 41 surface seawater samples were collected in the northwestern Pacific Ocean (NW-PO), eastern Indian Ocean (E-IO) and Southern Ocean (SO), and 23 PFASs comprised of legacy perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids, perfluoroalkyl sulfonate acids and some new emerging homologs such as 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA) were measured. The concentrations of the total PFASs decreased in the order of NW-PO>E-IO>SO. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the most dominant, followed by perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). The PFOA concentration declined exponentially with the offshore distance, while such trend was not obvious for PFOS and other legacy PFASs, suggesting that PFOA was mainly derived from the ongoing land-based emissions, while PFOS was mainly from historical residues. 6:2 Cl-PFESA was identified (<11.1-170 pg/L) in the oceanic waters with relatively high level at the sites near Australia. Multiple receptor models indicated that PFASs in the SO were mainly contributed by atmosphere input, while those in the NW-PO and E-IO were originated from land sources. Isomeric profiles of PFOA showed that telomere-based source became more outstanding than electrochemical fluorinated production in recent years.

Keywords: 6:2 CL-PFESA; Distribution; Open ocean; PFASs; PFOS; Surface seawater.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't