Effect of salinity and sediment characteristics on the sorption and desorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate at sediment-water interface

Abstract

Salinity is an important environmental parameter affecting the transport and fate of PFOS in aquatic environment. a r t i c l e i n f o . The results suggested that PFOS can be largely removed from the water with increasing salinity, and get trapped onto sediments irreversibly. These phenomena could be explained by salting-out effect and Ca-bridging effect. Studies also suggested that the content of total organic carbon is the dominant psychochemical properties of sediment controlling the sorption of PFOS.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in sediments from South Bohai coastal watersheds, China

“…The log K oc of PFOA was higher than previously reported values, 2.06 (Higgins and Luthy, 2006), 2.09 and 2.17 (Zhao et al, 2012) and 2.28 (Yang et al, 2011), but was lower than the reported value of 3.7 in Tianjin, China (Li et al, 2011). The log K oc of PFOS was 3.75, which was also higher than the results of other studies, 2.57 (Higgins and Luthy, 2006), 2.88 (Yang et al, 2011), 3.04 (You et al, 2010), 2.68 and 2.97 (Zhao et al, 2012), 3.16 (Kwadijk et al, 2010), and the range observed by 3M Co. (2.57-3.1) (3M Company, 2000). When partition of PFAS between water and sediment from Tokyo Bay, Japan was calculated, a slightly higher log K oc was observed for PFOS of 3.8 ± 0.1 L kg À1 .…”

“…Some researchers reported that the only environmental sink for perfluorooctanoate (PFO, refers to PFOA & PFOS) was sediment burial and transport to the deep oceans (Prevedouros et al, 2006). The distribution of PFAS between water and sediment is considered as an important process which controls their transport and fate (Prevedouros et al, 2006;You et al, 2010). Sediment-water distribution is a complex process, depending not only on the physicochemical characteristics of the compounds but also on the sediment nature such as the organic carbon fraction (f oc ) (Ahrens et al, 2010b;Zhao et al, 2012).…”

Distribution of perfluorinated compounds in Lake Taihu (China): Impact to human health and water standards

“…Higgins and Luthy reported that the sorption of perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) increased with the chain length (Higgins and Luthy, 2006). Recently, Pan et al found that high salinity and ionic strength enhanced the uptake of PFOS on sediments, making estuaries an important sink for PFOS during its transport from land to the ocean You et al, 2010). Most studies on PFCs in sediments have been focused on the oceans; little is known on their presence and distribution in large freshwater bodies (Ahrens et al, 2010a;Ahrens et al, 2010b;Ahrens et al, 2010c).…”

Effect of temperature on the sorption and desorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate on humic acid

“…PFOS (C 8 F 17 SO 3 − ) is an anionic organic compound comprised with a fully fluorinated carbon chain length of C8 and a sulfonyl group, which is expected to behave differently from traditional hydrophobic contaminants since it has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic functionalities (UK Environment Agency, 2004). In previous studies, much attention had been paid to the effects of sediment composition and cosolvent on the sorption of PFOS (Higgins and Luthy, 2006;Johnson et al, 2007;Pan and You, 2010;You et al, 2010). Little knowledge is available about the effect of temperature on the sorption and desorption behaviors of PFOS, although temperature is an important parameter influencing the equilibrium and rate of sorption and desorption (ten Hulscher and Cornelissen, 1996).…”