Distribution, Partitioning Behaviors, and Source Identification of Legacy and Emerging Per- and Poly-fluorinated Alkyl Substances in the Pearl River Estuary, South China

IF 11.4 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Water Research Pub Date : 2025-07-01 DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2025.124143

Bin Tang, Can Peng, Dong-Jing Zhou, Kai-Yi Wu, Fei Tian, Hai-Gang Chen, Shi-Yi Zhang, Bo-Wen Li, Guo-Cheng Hu, Ming-Zhong Ren, Jing Zheng

{"title":"Distribution, Partitioning Behaviors, and Source Identification of Legacy and Emerging Per- and Poly-fluorinated Alkyl Substances in the Pearl River Estuary, South China","authors":"Bin Tang, Can Peng, Dong-Jing Zhou, Kai-Yi Wu, Fei Tian, Hai-Gang Chen, Shi-Yi Zhang, Bo-Wen Li, Guo-Cheng Hu, Ming-Zhong Ren, Jing Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.watres.2025.124143","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Estuaries serve as a sink for land-based pollutants like legacy per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), however, the environmental behaviors of emerging PFASs (ePFASs) remain largely unknown. This study investigated the occurrence, behaviors, and sources of 18 legacy PFASs and 13 ePFASs across the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). The results indicated that the total concentrations of PFASs (ΣPFASs) in seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment ranged from 1.20 to 25.6 ng/L, not detected (ND) to 635 ng/g dry weight (dw), and 0.93 to 6.84 ng/g dw, respectively. Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) was the dominant chemical (25.4%) in seawater, while sodium p-perfluorooctanoate nonenoxybenzene sulfonate (PFNOBS) for SPM (75.0%) and sediment (37.9%). PFASs exhibited a nearshore-to-offshore decreasing trend in seawater, while significant enrichment was observed in SPM and sediment at the river-sea junction, primarily attributed to urban/industrial discharges and the “marginal filtration effect”. Partition coefficients (log Kd, log KOC, and log Kp) exhibited strong linear correlations with carbon chain length of PFASs, indicated that long-chain PFASs were more readily adsorbed by the solid phase. SPM-mediated transport significantly enhanced long-chain PFAS distribution (log Kp =1.85–4.73), while salinity negatively influenced Kd of short-chain PFCAs (p < 0.05). Source apportionment analysis revealed the diverse sources of PFASs, including electronics, electroplating, textiles, papermaking, food packaging and emerging fluorochemical manufacturing, which aligns with PFAS releases from industrial processes and commercial products within the Pearl River Delta. Overall low ecological risk of PFASs was observed in the PRE, yet legacy PFOA and emerging substances, including 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2 FTSA), hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA), and PFNOBS, warrant attention due to their potential accumulation potential and associated risks. This study underscores the critical role of SPM in PFAS dynamics and provides significant insights into the partitioning behavior and sources of PFASs, particularly ePFASs, within estuarine aquatic systems.","PeriodicalId":443,"journal":{"name":"Water Research","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Water Research","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2025.124143","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Estuaries serve as a sink for land-based pollutants like legacy per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), however, the environmental behaviors of emerging PFASs (ePFASs) remain largely unknown. This study investigated the occurrence, behaviors, and sources of 18 legacy PFASs and 13 ePFASs across the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). The results indicated that the total concentrations of PFASs (ΣPFASs) in seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment ranged from 1.20 to 25.6 ng/L, not detected (ND) to 635 ng/g dry weight (dw), and 0.93 to 6.84 ng/g dw, respectively. Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) was the dominant chemical (25.4%) in seawater, while sodium p-perfluorooctanoate nonenoxybenzene sulfonate (PFNOBS) for SPM (75.0%) and sediment (37.9%). PFASs exhibited a nearshore-to-offshore decreasing trend in seawater, while significant enrichment was observed in SPM and sediment at the river-sea junction, primarily attributed to urban/industrial discharges and the “marginal filtration effect”. Partition coefficients (log K_d, log K_OC, and log K_p) exhibited strong linear correlations with carbon chain length of PFASs, indicated that long-chain PFASs were more readily adsorbed by the solid phase. SPM-mediated transport significantly enhanced long-chain PFAS distribution (log K_p =1.85–4.73), while salinity negatively influenced K_d of short-chain PFCAs (p < 0.05). Source apportionment analysis revealed the diverse sources of PFASs, including electronics, electroplating, textiles, papermaking, food packaging and emerging fluorochemical manufacturing, which aligns with PFAS releases from industrial processes and commercial products within the Pearl River Delta. Overall low ecological risk of PFASs was observed in the PRE, yet legacy PFOA and emerging substances, including 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid (6:2 FTSA), hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA), and PFNOBS, warrant attention due to their potential accumulation potential and associated risks. This study underscores the critical role of SPM in PFAS dynamics and provides significant insights into the partitioning behavior and sources of PFASs, particularly ePFASs, within estuarine aquatic systems.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

珠江口原有和新发全氟和多氟烷基物质的分布、分配行为及来源鉴定

河口是陆地污染物的汇，如遗留的全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质（PFASs），然而，新兴的全氟烷基物质（ePFASs）的环境行为在很大程度上仍然未知。研究了珠江口沿岸18种遗留PFASs和13种ePFASs的发生、行为和来源。结果表明，海水、悬浮颗粒物（SPM）和沉积物中PFASs的总浓度（ΣPFASs）分别为1.20 ~ 25.6 ng/L、未检出（ND） ~ 635 ng/g干重（dw）和0.93 ~ 6.84 ng/g dw。全氟辛酸盐（PFOA）在海水中占主导地位（25.4%），而对全氟辛酸壬烯氧苯磺酸钠（PFNOBS）在SPM（75.0%）和沉积物中占主导地位（37.9%）。全氟辛烷磺酸在海水中呈近岸至近海递减趋势，而在河海交界的SPM和沉积物中则明显富集，这主要归因于城市/工业排放和“边际过滤效应”。分配系数（log Kd、log KOC和log Kp）与PFASs的碳链长度呈强线性相关，表明长链PFASs更容易被固相吸附。spm介导的转运显著增强了PFAS的长链分布（log Kp = 1.85-4.73），而盐度对短链PFCAs的Kd呈负向影响(p <；0.05)。来源解析分析显示，珠三角地区的全氟磺酸来源多样，包括电子、电镀、纺织、造纸、食品包装和新兴的氟化工制造，与工业过程和商业产品的全氟磺酸排放一致。在PRE中观察到全氟辛烷磺酸的整体生态风险较低，但遗留的全氟辛烷磺酸和新兴物质，包括6:2氟端聚体磺酸（6:2 FTSA），六氟环氧丙烷三聚酸（HFPO-TA）和PFNOBS，由于其潜在的积累潜力和相关风险，值得关注。该研究强调了SPM在PFAS动态中的关键作用，并为河口水生系统中PFAS（特别是ePFASs）的分配行为和来源提供了重要见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Water Research 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

20.80

自引率

9.40%

发文量

1307

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Water Research, along with its open access companion journal Water Research X, serves as a platform for publishing original research papers covering various aspects of the science and technology related to the anthropogenic water cycle, water quality, and its management worldwide. The audience targeted by the journal comprises biologists, chemical engineers, chemists, civil engineers, environmental engineers, limnologists, and microbiologists. The scope of the journal include: •Treatment processes for water and wastewaters (municipal, agricultural, industrial, and on-site treatment), including resource recovery and residuals management; •Urban hydrology including sewer systems, stormwater management, and green infrastructure; •Drinking water treatment and distribution; •Potable and non-potable water reuse; •Sanitation, public health, and risk assessment; •Anaerobic digestion, solid and hazardous waste management, including source characterization and the effects and control of leachates and gaseous emissions; •Contaminants (chemical, microbial, anthropogenic particles such as nanoparticles or microplastics) and related water quality sensing, monitoring, fate, and assessment; •Anthropogenic impacts on inland, tidal, coastal and urban waters, focusing on surface and ground waters, and point and non-point sources of pollution; •Environmental restoration, linked to surface water, groundwater and groundwater remediation; •Analysis of the interfaces between sediments and water, and between water and atmosphere, focusing specifically on anthropogenic impacts; •Mathematical modelling, systems analysis, machine learning, and beneficial use of big data related to the anthropogenic water cycle; •Socio-economic, policy, and regulations studies.