Occurrence characteristics and health risk assessment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from water in residential areas around fluorine chemical industrial areas, China

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 29; no. 40; pp. 60733 - 60743
• Main Authors: Tang, Jiaxi, Zhu, Yongle, Li, Yu, Xiang, Biao, Tan, Ting, Lv, Linyou, Luo, Qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescents; Age groups; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Contamination; Dry season; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Fluorine; Groundwater; Groundwater flow; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Industrial areas; Perfluoroalkyl & polyfluoroalkyl substances; Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; Perfluorooctanoic acid; Rainy season; Research Article; Residential areas; Risk assessment; Seasons; Sulfonates; Surface water; Surface-groundwater relations; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water sampling; Risk quotient; Perfluorooctanoic acid; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Concentration; Health risk assessment
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-20155-8

Recently, identifying the contamination status and assessing the health risk of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in surface water and groundwater have been of great significance. Eighteen individual PFASs were analyzed in thirty-three surface/groundwater samples during one period in a fluorine chemical park (Park A) and during two periods in Park B. The mean total concentration of 18 PFASs (∑PFASs) in Park A (9104.63 ng·L −1 ) was significantly higher than that in the wet season (WS) (801.68 ng·L −1 ) or DS (714.64 ng·L −1 ) in Park B. The perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) was the predominant substance in the two parks, and the maximum concentration in groundwater exceeded 10,000 ng·L −1 . The contamination status in the wet season (WS) was higher than that in the dry season (DS) in Park B. The ∑PFASs in Park A presented an increasing tendency following the groundwater flow direction, whereas this rule was limited to all periods in Park B. Two relative source contributions (RSCs) of 20% or 100% allowed assessing the PFASs risk to different age groups, and the results revealed that some PFASs (4 ≤ C ≤ 7 or 9 ≤ C ≤ 12) were identified as having a low risk quotient (RQ), except for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and PFOA (C = 8). The RQ mix value mainly relies on PFOA and PFOS, with a larger contribution rate of 80–90%. All assessed cases (case 1, case 2, case 3, and case 4) in all age groups revealed that infants were vulnerable to PFASs influence, followed by children, teenagers, and adults.