Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in urban surface water of Shijiazhuang, China: Occurrence, distribution, sources and ecological risks


Yaqi Cai , Xiaotong Li , Yuan Wang , Chengjing Qian , Zhixin Zheng , Yali Shi , Jiansheng Cui

DOI:10.1016/j.jes.2022.01.031

Received November 21, 2021,Revised , Accepted January 19, 2022, Available online January 31, 2022

Volume 35,2023,Pages 185-193

It is extremely important to analyze the contaminative behaviors of Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) due to their serious threats to urban environments which are closely related to humans. Current study aimed to explore the distribution, source apportionment and ecological risk assessment of PFAAs in surface water from Shijiazhuang, China. The concentrations of ∑PFAAs ranged from 19.5 to 125.9 ng/L in the investigation area. Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) and perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) were the predominant contaminants (mean value: 14.3 ng/L and 16.6 ng/L, respectively). The distribution of PFAAs according to geospatial analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) showed that higher levels of ∑PFAAs were detected in the southern surface water of Shijiazhuang and there was a stepwise decrease from the wet season to the dry season. Furthermore, based on source apportionment, the dominant potential sources were found to be wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and industrial discharge. The risk quotients (RQs) revealed low ecological risks of all PFAAs for aquatic organisms in Shijiazhuang surface water. Collectively, this study provided basic data for regulatory strategies for controlling PFAA pollutions in urban surface water.

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