Perfluorinated Compounds in the Asian Atmosphere

Abstract

There is interest in the production, use, and environmental occurrence of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) across Asia and the Asian contributions to the burden of these compounds reaching the Arctic and other remote regions via long-range transport. A spatial survey of perfluorinated compounds was therefore undertaken across China, India, and Japan in 2009 using passive air samplers. Target analytes were fluorotelomer olefins (FTOs), acrylates (FTAs), alcohols (FTOHs), sulfonamides, and sulfonamidoethanols. Wide variations in concentrations and mixtures of compounds were apparent from the study. Generally the FTOHs were the most abundant, followed by 8:2 FTO in China and Japan and by the sulfonamides in India. There was a general decline in PFC concentration from urban, rural, to remote locations. Background stations reflected regional differences in air mass composition. A site in the west Pacific Ocean exhibited a Japanese profile in which 8:2 FTO and 8:2 FTOH were predominant. In contrast, a southern Indian profile with high 4:2 FTOH concentrations was observed at a background site in southern China.

Neutral poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in air and seawater of the North Sea

“…This variation is consistent with the estimated atmospheric residence times of FTOHs of 80, 70, and 50 days for 8:2 FTOH, 10:2 FTOH, and 6:2 FTOH, respectively (Piekarz et al 2007). Gaseous FTOHs reported in Asia and the Pacific regions (Li et al 2011) were generally higher than those determined in the European continent and marine environment (Dreyer and Ebinghaus 2009;Jahnke et al 2007) higher than those in this study and the European atmosphere (Dreyer et al 2009a). For FASE/As, ∑FASA (3.1-26 pg m −3 , median: 7.5 pg m −3 ) and ∑FASE (3.2-19 pg m −3 , median: 6.9 pg m −3 ) were comparable in this work.…”

“…In this work, two fluorotelomer acrylates, 8:2 FTAC and 6:2 FTAC, were determined at relatively low levels with ranges of <0.2-4.4 and <0.9-1.2 pg m −3 , respectively. These results are two to five times lower than those reported in the North Sea and at an urban site of Hamburg (Dreyer and Ebinghaus 2009) and in the Asia-Pacific region (Li et al 2011), and 3 orders of magnitude lower than those reported in Japan (Oono et al 2008). FTACs are monomers used in the manufacturing of fluorotelomer-based polymers.…”

“…The major emission source of FASE/As in European marine environment can be addressed to the products containing POSF-based chemicals in use. However, it should be noted that increased FBSA/FBSE concentrations have been observed in Asia and the Pacific regions (Li et al 2011), and in the Southern Ocean (Del Vento et al 2012) due to the geographical shift of production and increasing use of perfluorobutane sulfonyl compounds.…”

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the lower atmosphere and surface waters of the Chinese Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and Yangtze River estuary

“…Previous studies reported high neutral PFAS concentrations in air along the coastal cities of the South Yellow Sea. For instance, Li et al (2011) reported neutral ∑PFAS concentrations between 113 and 306 pg/m 3 in the Yellow Sea coastal cities of China, and Kim et al (2012) reported mean concentration of ∑FTOHs and ∑FASEs + FASAs of 19,731 and 260 pg/m 3 , respectively, in the outdoor Korean air. Air masses from the Korea Peninsula coast and the Japan Sea (A9-A11) exhibited lower ∑PFAS concentrations (170 to 220 pg/m 3 ) than those from the south Yellow Sea (A1-A8, 192 to 511 pg/m 3 ).…”

Spatiotemporal distribution and mass loadings of perfluoroalkyl substances in the Yangtze River of China

“…Incomplete removal of PFASs by waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) (Schultz et al, 2006;Sun et al, 2011), and transport by water flow and oceanic currents (Yamashita et al, 2008) and atmosphere (Stock et al, 2007) make them ubiquitously distributed in various environmental media including air (Li et al, 2011b), water (Hansen et al, 2002;Hong et al, 2013), sediment (Higgins et al, 2005;Benskin et al, 2011), biota (Giesy and Kannan, 2001;Tao et al, 2006), and human (Hansen et al, 2001). They have even been found in some remote areas, such as the Arctic (Benskin et al, 2012) and Tibetan Plateau (Shi et al, 2010).…”