Nontarget Screening and Fate of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Wastewater Treatment Plants in Tianjin, China

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are typical point sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) released into the environment. The suspect and nontarget screening based on gas chromatography or liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry were performed on atmosphere, wastewat...

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Published inEnvironmental science & technology Vol. 57; no. 48; pp. 20127 - 20137
Main Authors Qiao, Biting, Song, Dongbao, Fang, Bo, Yu, Hao, Li, Xiao, Zhao, Leicheng, Yao, Yiming, Zhu, Lingyan, Chen, Hao, Sun, Hongwen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Easton American Chemical Society 05.12.2023
Subjects
Air sampling
Atmosphere
Chromatography
Gas chromatography
Genetic transformation
Intermediates
Liquid chromatography
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Moisture content
Oxidation
Perfluoroalkyl & polyfluoroalkyl substances
Perfluorochemicals
Precursors
Screening
Sludge
Sulfonamides
Wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment plants
Water content
Water treatment
China
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Summary:Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are typical point sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) released into the environment. The suspect and nontarget screening based on gas chromatography or liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry were performed on atmosphere, wastewater, and sludge samples collected from two WWTPs in Tianjin to discover emerging PFAS and their fate in this study. A total of 40 PFAS (14 neutral and 26 ionic) and 64 PFAS were identified in the atmosphere and wastewater/sludge, respectively, among which 5 short-chain perfluoroalkyl sulfonamide derivatives, 4 ionic PFAS, and 15 aqueous film-forming foam-related cationic or zwitterionic PFAS have rarely or never been reported in WWTPs in China. Active air sampling is more conducive to the enrichment of emerging PFAS, while passive sampling is inclined to leave out some ultrashort-chain PFAS or unstable transformation intermediates. Moreover, most precursors and intermediates could be enriched in the atmosphere at night, while the PFAS associated with aerosols with high water content or particles enter the atmosphere easily during the day. Although most emerging PFAS could not be eliminated efficiently in conventional treatment units, deep bed filtration and advanced oxidation processes could partly remove some emerging precursors.
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content type line 23
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.3c03997