title: Shifts in production of perfluoroalkyl acids affect emissions and concentrations in the environment of the Xiaoqing River Basin, China.
abstract: Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) have been widely used in surfactant applications, especially as processing acids for fluoropolymer production. This study provides an analysis of sources of certain PFAAs emitted from the intensive fluoropolymer facilities in the Xiaoqing River Basin of China. Concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as great as 0.97mg/L in surface water and 10.5μg/g dry weight in surface sediment have been detected near the effluent of one facility (F1) that produces polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and other fluoropolymers with massive capacity. With the great emission of PFAAs to water in natural conditions, the log KOC values decreased for short-chain PFCAs. Mass loads of PFAAs indicated that emissions of PFAAs from other facilities or sources were much less than those from F1, which emitted 174kg/d of PFAAs including 159kg/d of PFOA to the rivers. Even though production and emissions of PFOA have been strictly controlled in other countries since 2006, production of PFOA as well as several other fluoropolymers that use PFOA as processing aids has been increasing at F1 in recent years. We recommended that production shift should be taken into consideration in PFOA elimination actions.
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: yllu@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yonglong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Tieyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qifeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoyun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Ruoshi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Giesy
keywords: Fluoropolymer; PFOA; Source; Xiaoqing River