Characterizing the long-term occurrence and anthropogenic drivers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in surface water of the Rhine River

Hui Li; Xu Zhu; Jin Zhang; Zhenyu Wang; Ruifei Li

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2023.120528

Characterizing the long-term occurrence and anthropogenic drivers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in surface water of the Rhine River

Water Res. 2023 Oct 15:245:120528. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120528. Epub 2023 Aug 26.

Authors

Hui Li¹, Xu Zhu¹, Jin Zhang², Zhenyu Wang³, Ruifei Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China.
³ Institute of Urban and Industrial Water Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01062, Germany.
⁴ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China. Electronic address: liruifei@shu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37742404
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120528

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) raise significant concerns due to their persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity to both ecosystems and human health. However, the long-term trends of PFAS in aquatic environments remain inadequately explored. In this study, we systematically assessed the spatiotemporal distribution, periodic fluctuations, source apportionment, and risk evaluation of 12 PFAS in the Rhine River based on the long-term measuring data collected from 2007 to 2019. The study revealed that the mean concentration and mass flux of total PFAS during this period were 32.83 ng L^-1 and 6.36 × 10⁴ μg s^-1, declining at an annual rate of 3.70% and 3.82%, respectively. Wavelet analysis demonstrated that the most prominent periodic oscillation of PFAS was 40-60 months. Regarding the sources of PFAS, we employed the self-organizing map (SOM) and the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model for source apportionment. The results indicated that the primary sources of PFAS were agrochemical, pharmaceutical and textile industries, accounting for 38.1% of the total concentration. The contribution from household contamination, tannery industry, and coating materials has increased annually. In contrast, the share of electrochemical fluorination and chemical recycling has shown a continuous decline. The risk quotient (RQ) and hazard quotient (HQ) calculations for three age groups indicated that PFAS exposure did not pose a significant risk to ecological or human health. Implementing source-oriented mitigation strategies is crucial to effectively reduce the ecological and human health risks of PFAS in receiving waters.

Keywords: Chemical industries; PFAS; Rhine River; Risk assessment; Source apportionment.