title: Spatial distribution and partition of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in rivers of the Pearl River Delta, southern China.
abstract: This study investigated the occurrence of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in surface water from 67 sampling sites along rivers of the Pearl River Delta in southern China. Sixteen PFAAs, including perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs, C5-14, C16 and C18) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs, C4, C6, C8 and C10) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-negative electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS). Total PFAA concentrations (∑ PFAAs) in the surface water ranged from 1.53 to 33.5 ng·L(-1) with an average of 7.58 ng·L(-1). Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were the three most abundant PFAAs and on average accounted for 28%, 16% and 10% of ∑ PFAAs, respectively. Higher concentrations of ∑ PFAAs were found in the samples collected from Jiangmen section of Xijiang River, Dongguan section of Dongjiang River and the Pearl River flowing the cities which had very well-developed manufacturing industries. PCA model was employed to quantitatively calculate the contributions of extracted sources. Factor 1 (72.48% of the total variance) had high loading for perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA), PFBS and PFOS. For factor 2 (10.93% of the total variance), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA) got high loading. The sorption of PFCAs on suspended particulate matter (SPM) increased by approximately 0.1 log units for each additional CF2 moiety and that on sediment was approximately 0.8 log units lower than the SPM logKd values. In addition, the differences in the partition coefficients were influenced by the structure discrepancy of absorbents and influx of fresh river water. These data are essential for modeling the transport and environmental fate of PFAAs.
authors.affiliation: College of Physical Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; College of Chemistry, Changchun Normal University, Changchun 130032, China; College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300222, China.
authors.forename: Baolin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Physical Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: zhangh@szu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Physical Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Liuwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Juying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300222, China.
authors.forename: Xinxuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Physical Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300222, China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis; D002208:Caproates / Q000032:analysis; D002210:Caprylates / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002208:Caproates; D002210:Caprylates; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C023036:perfluorooctanoic acid; C076994:perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; C108042:perfluorobutane; C479228:perfluorohexanoic acid
keywords: K(d); K(oc); Perfluoroalkyl acids; Source appointment; The Pearl River Delta