Flux of perfluorinated chemicals through wet deposition in Japan, the United States, and several other countries.
The widespread distribution of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in different environmental matrices has prompted concern about the sources, fate, and transport of these classes of chemicals. PFCs are present in the atmosphere, but only a few studies have investigated their occurrence in precipitation. In this study, concentrations of 20 PFCs, including C3-C5 short-chain PFCs, were quantified using HPLC-MS/MS in precipitation samples from Japan (n = 31), the United States (n = 12), China (n = 5), India (n = 2), and France (n = 2). Among the PFCs measured, perfluoropropanoic acid (PFPrA) was detected in all of the precipitation samples. Average total PFC concentrations ranged from 1.40 to 18.1 ng/L for the seven cities studied. The greatest total PFC concentrations were detected in Tsukuba, Japan, whereas the lowest concentrations were detected in Patna, India. PFPrA, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were found to be the dominant PFCs in Japanese and U.S. precipitation samples. No observable seasonal trend was found in precipitation samples from two locations in Japan. Annual fluxes of PFCs were estimated for Japan and the U.S. and the evidence for precipitation as an effective scavenger of PFCs in the atmosphere is reported.
Kwok
Karen Y
KY
State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Taniyasu
Sachi
S
Yeung
Leo W Y
LW
Murphy
Margaret B
MB
Lam
Paul K S
PK
Horii
Yuichi
Y
Kannan
Kurunthachalam
K
Petrick
Gert
G
Sinha
Ravindra K
RK
Yamashita
Nobuyoshi
N
D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry; D002681:China; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D005602:France; D007194:India; D038622:Internationality; D007564:Japan; D011891:Rain / Q000737:chemistry*; D012621:Seasons; D014481:United States
D005466:Fluorocarbons