title: A national discharge load of perfluoroalkyl acids derived from industrial wastewater treatment plants in Korea.
abstract: Levels of 11 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), were measured in wastewater (influent and effluent) and sludge samples collected from 25 industrial wastewater treatment plants (I-WWTPs) in five industrial sectors (chemicals, electronics, metals, paper, and textiles) in South Korea. The highest ∑11PFAAs concentrations were detected in the influent and effluent from the paper (median: 411ng/L) and textile (median: 106ng/L) industries, and PFOA and PFOS were the predominant PFAAs (49-66%) in wastewater. Exceptionally high levels of PFAAs were detected in the sludge associated with the electronics (median: 91.0ng/g) and chemical (median: 81.5ng/g) industries with PFOS being the predominant PFAA. The discharge loads of 11 PFAAs from I-WWTP were calculated that total discharge loads for the five industries were 0.146ton/yr. The textile industry had the highest discharge load with 0.055ton/yr (PFOA: 0.039ton/yr, PFOS: 0.010ton/yr). Municipal wastewater contributed more to the overall discharge of PFAAs (0.489ton/yr) due to the very small industrial wastewater discharge compared to municipal wastewater discharge, but the contribution of PFAAs from I-WWTPs cannot be ignored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Seok
authors.affiliation: School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Ok
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Deuk
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Chemical Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang-Seol
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Seok
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005466:Fluorocarbons; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Discharge load; Industrial wastewater; Industry; Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs); Sludge