Occurrence of perfluoroalkyl substances in selected Victorian rivers and estuaries: An historical snapshot

Abstract

This reconnaissance study was undertaken in 2012 to examine the occurrence of common perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluoroalkyl sulphonic acids and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids in rivers and estuaries in Port Philip Bay, Victoria, Australia. In total, 19 PFAS were screened in grab samples of water using a combination of solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry measurement techniques. Eighteen of the PFAS screened were observed in samples. The highest level of PFOS observed at a freshwater site was 0.045 μg/L; this concentration is approximately half the draft Australian 95% species protection level for total PFOS. The highest level of PFOA in the study (0.014 μg/L) was some four orders of magnitude lower than the draft Australian trigger value for PFOA (220 μg/L). However, none of the PFAS observed at the freshwater sites had research quotient (RQ) or toxicity unit (TU) values above 1 or-3, respectively. The highest concentration of PFOS observed at an estuarine site was 0.075 μg/L; the highest level of PFOA, 0.09 μg/L). There are no Australian marine water quality trigger values for PFAS, so potential risk was assessed using the European environment quality standards (EQS) adopted in EU Directive 2013/39/EU, RQ and TU methods. In that context, none of the PFAS observed at estuary sites had concentrations higher than the EU standards, or RQ above 1 or Log 10 TU above-3. Together these assessments suggest none of the PFAS screened would have posed an acute risk to organisms in the fresh or estuary waters studied at the time of sampling on an individual or collective basis. However, the detection of these PFAS in Victorian estuaries highlights that the issue is not just an issue for more densely populated countries in the northern hemisphere, but also potentially of concern in Australia. And, in that context, more sampling campaigns in Port Philip Bay are of paramount importance to assess the potential risk pose by these compounds to aquatic ecosystems.

Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Ducks and the Relationship with Concentrations in Water, Sediment, and Soil

“…Seven long-chain PFCA (perfluorodecanoic acid [PFDA], perfluoroundecanoic acid, perfluorododecanoic acid, perfluorotridecanoic acid, perfluorotetradecanoic acid, perfluorohexadecanoic acid, perfluorooctadecanoic acid, and 8:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated carboxylic acid), 3 PFSA (perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid, perfluorononane sulfonic acid, and perfluorodecane sulfonic acid), and 8 fluorotelomer-based PFAS compounds (N-methyl perfluorooctane sulfonamide, N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamide, N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acid, N-methyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol [N-MeFOSE], N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acid [N-EtFOSAA], N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol [N-EtFOSE], 4:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acid [FTS], and 6:2 FTS) were not detected in any of the 3 abiotic matrices (see LORs in Table 2). The PFAS found in water samples in the present study aligns with previous investigations in Victoria (Szabo et al 2018;Allinson et al 2019;Sardiña et al 2019), although differences attributable to land use were apparent. Sardiña et al (2019) reported a similar suite of PFAS in water collected from rivers and wetlands surrounded by agricultural land, which is also the dominant land-use type in the catchments of most of the wetlands analyzed in the present study.…”

“…A recent study in Victoria, southeast Australia, identified industrial and some urban environments as having elevated concentrations of PFAS (Sardiña et al 2019). Another survey of 7 Melbourne waterways and 2 estuaries detected 17 out of 19 measured PFAS in suburban Australian waterways, with the highest PFOS concentrations in the 2 estuaries downstream of heavily industrialized catchments in Melbourne's western suburbs (Allinson et al 2019). Fewer studies have attempted to understand the relationship between PFAS concentrations in the environment and those in biota (but see Taniyasu et al 2003; Bossi et al 2005; Thompson et al 2011).…”

Field-Based Distribution and Bioaccumulation Factors for Cyclic and Aliphatic Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in an Urban Sedentary Waterbird Population

“…PFOA had the highest mean concentration in water (47 ± 3.1 ng L –1 ), followed by PFOS (31 ± 9.6 ng L –1 ) and PFHxS (12 ± 0.56 ng L –1 ). The mean concentrations of PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS in this study exceed the concentrations found in the catchment from the closest major waterway (∼1.5 km), where concentrations were 1.7–2.2 ng L –1 , 5.1–13.9 ng L –1 , and 3.0–7.0 ng L –1 , respectively . Furthermore, average concentrations of PFOS exceed the Australian guideline for 99% species conservation (0.23 ng L –1 ) and the maximum concentration of PFOS (151 ng L –1 ) exceeded the 95% species conservation guideline of 130 ng L –1 51 .…”

Development and application of an LC-MS method to the determination of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in drinking, sea and surface water samples

“…These samples contained the highest PFAS concentrations, with a maximum detected of 424 ng L −1 for PFPeA, followed by PFOA (approx 200 ng L −1 ), similarly to other studies carried out in surface waters, where PFAS levels have been found in the low ng L −1 range in rivers of urban catchments. 31–33 In seawater samples, 7 compounds were detected, but only 3 were above MQLs. The highest concentrations were around 45 and 13 ng L −1 for the compounds PFBS and PFPeA, respectively, an order of magnitude lower than in river water, comparable to similar studies in ocean water.…”