Polyfluorinated compounds in waste water treatment plant effluents and surface waters along the River Elbe, Germany

Abstract

Polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were investigated in waste water treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and surface waters of the River Elbe from samples collected in 2007. Concentrations of various PFCs, including C(4)-C(8) perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs), C(6) and C(8) perfluorinated sulfinates, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate, C(5)-C(13) perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), C(4) and C(8) perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides and 6:2, 8:2 and 10:2 unsaturated fluorotelomercarboxylic acids were quantified. Sum PFC concentrations of the river water ranged from 7.6 to 26.4ngL(-1), whereas sum PFC concentrations of WWTP effluents were approximately 5-10 times higher (30.5-266.3ngL(-1)), indicating that WWTPs are potential sources of PFCs in the marine environment. PFC patterns of different WWTP effluents varied depending on the origin of the waste water, whereas the profile of PFC composition in the river water was relatively constant. In both kinds of water samples, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the major PFC, whereas perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) was the predominant PFSA.

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

“…Sources could include the waste water discharge from industries and WWTPs, whereas landfill leachate, dry or wet atmospheric deposition, and soil/street surface runoff have also been suggested as non-point sources (Ahrens et al, 2009a;Paul et al, 2008;Busch et al, 2010;Cai et al, 2012). PFAS levels and profiles in the Yangtze River provided some important insights.…”

“…PFAS-related manufacturing processes, wastewater discharges, leaching of landfills, precipitation, contaminated runoff and air deposition are thought to be the direct sources for PFASs in the aquatic environment (Ahrens et al, 2009a;Paul et al, 2008;Busch et al, 2010;Cai et al, 2012). Long chain (more than seven fully fluorinated carbon atoms) PFCAs and PFSAs are shown to be bioaccumulative (Martin et al, 2003) and have potential adverse effects on humans and animals (Lau, 2012;Peters and Gonzalez, 2011).…”

Spatial distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds in coastal waters from the East to South China Sea

“…However, the ocean currents, adsorption to particles and atmospheric deposition can also influence the composition pattern. The dominance of PFOA and PFOS in coastal waters might indicate that the contamination originated from WWTP effluents where they were found to be the predominant PFCs, such as in Denmark (Bossi et al, 2008), Georgia and Kentucky (USA) (Loganathan et al, 2007), Germany (Ahrens et al, 2009c), Canada (Furdui et al, 2008), Austria (Clara et al, 2008) and Catalonia (Sánchez-Avila et al, 2010). In our study, the concentration of PFBS (average of 302 pg/L) was about one order of magnitude higher than that of PFOS (average of 24 pg/L), This can be partly attributed to the increasing production of N-methyl perfluorobutane sulfonamidoethanol (MeFBSE) and related products with four perfluorinated carbons, which was introduced after the voluntary phase-out of POSF by the 3M Company in 2000 (D'Eon et al, 2006).…”

“…In addition, the European Union (EU) formed a directive in December 2006 which prohibits the general use of PFOS after June 2008 (European Parliament and Council, 2006). But there is still a growing demand for substances with the unique properties of PFCs, and thus other PFCs are replacing PFOS (Ahrens et al, 2009c). In the last 10 years, the production of POSF has shifted from North America and Europe primarily to China.…”

Mixture-specific gene expression in zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) embryos exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and 3,3′,4,4′,5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126)

“…Particularly, the 8-carbon perfluoroalkyls, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), have attracted most attention as these chemicals were extensively used in industrial applications and represent final degradation products of many PFASs. Consequently, they can be found at concentrations from the ng/L up to the µg/L in the environment (Ahrens and Bundschuh, 2014;Ahrens et al, 2009;Kannan et al, 2005;Kärrman et al, 2011;Skutlarek et al, 2006). In fish, they cause abnormal development, reduced offspring survival, and endocrine disruption (Ahrens and Bundschuh, 2014).…”