Nguyen, Minh Anh
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2017Peer reviewed
Spatial distribution and source tracing of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in surface water in Northern Europe
Nguyen, Minh A.; Wiberg, Karin; Ribeli, Erik; Josefsson, Sarah; Futter, Martyn; Gustavsson, Jakob; Ahrens, Lutz
Abstract
The impact of point and diffuse sources for 26 per- and polyfluoroallcyl substances (PFASs) in northern Europe were investigated by studying Swedish rivers (n = 40) and recipient seawater (Baltic Sea and Kattegat; n = 18). Different composition profiles were observed in the rivers, with ten rivers having a remarkably high fraction of perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs; 65% of the Sigma PFASs) as compared to other rivers (19%) suggesting major impact of one or several source types dominated by PFSAs. Population density and low latitude (south) were strongly correlated to the widely used perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfiuorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as well as to perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). Significant relationships between several PFCAs and PFSAs (i.e. perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), PFOA, perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), and PFHxS) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were detected (p < 0.05), indicating chemical binding and co -transport with DOC in fresh water and seawater. Partial least squares regression analysis showed that perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were related to latitude according to their perfluorocarbon chain length (C-3, C-7, C-8, C-9, C-10 and Cr-11), with longer chains associated with higher latitudes. This suggests the presence of mechanisms promoting higher prevalence of longer chained PFCAs in the north, e.g. precursor degradation, and/or aerosol associated stabilization of PFCAs and their precursors. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs); Source tracing; Long-range atmospheric transport; Surface water
Published in
Environmental Pollution
2017, volume: 220, number: Part B, pages: 1438-1446
SLU Authors
Wiberg, Karin
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Ribeli, Erik
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Josefsson, Sarah
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Futter, Martyn
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Gustavsson, Jakob
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Ahrens, Lutz
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Global goals (SDG)
SDG3 Good health and well-being
SDG6 Clean water and sanitation
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences
Analytical Chemistry
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.10.089
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/85033