Citation:

Liu, Y., X. Li, X. Wang, X. Qiao, S. Hao, J. Lu, X. Duan, D. Dionysiou, AND B. Zheng. Contamination Profiles of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Groundwater in the Alluvial–Pluvial Plain of Hutuo River, China. WATER. MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 11(11):2316, (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11112316

Impact/Purpose:

The occurrences of ten PFCs in groundwater in the alluvial-pluvial fan of Hutuo River (APFHR) in the North China Plain (NCP) were analyzed via UPLC-MS/MS and solid phase extraction. Total PFC concentrations ranged from 0.56 ng·L-1 to 13.34 ng·L-1 with the average value of 2.35 ng·L-1. The Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) were dominant PFC contaminants with high detection rates of 98.39% and 95.16%, respectively. PFOA was the main pollutant with mean concentration of 0.65 ng·L-1. The hydrogeological conditions have important influences on the concentrations of PFCs in groundwater. According source identification revealed that the short-chained PFCs (C4-C7) had different pollution sources than the long-chained PFCs (C8-C10) with atmospheric deposition not being the main source of PFCs in the studied area. PFHxA, perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), PFOA, PFNA and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFDA) probably all came from industrial sources, while the decomposition of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOH) could be the possible sources of PFNA and PFDA.

Description:

Over the past decade, concerns about perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have increased rapidly among the scientific community due to their global distribution and persistence in various environmental matrices. The occurrences of 10 PFAS in groundwater in the alluvial–pluvial plain of Hutuo River (APPHR) in the North China Plain (NCP) were analyzed via UPLC-MS/MS and solid phase extraction. Total PFAS concentrations ranged from 0.56 ng/L to 13.34 ng/L, with an average value of 2.35 ng/L. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) were dominant PFAS contaminants with high detection rates of 98.39% and 95.16%, respectively, and PFOA was the main pollutant with a mean concentration of 0.65 ng/L. The hydrogeological conditions have an important influence on the concentrations of PFAS in groundwater. Comparatively, the concentration of PFAS in groundwater in the study area is not very high, but it reflects that the groundwater in this region is affected by industrial sources to some extent. Local government should pay more attention on industrial pollution control and groundwater protection in this area.

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