Research advances on the environmental pollution and ecological toxic harm of the perfluorooctane sulfonate( PFOS)

This article intends to introduce the pollution in-situ of the perfluorooctane sulfonate( PFOS),its pollution distribution in the environment,in addition to its bioaccumulation,its ecological toxicity and its degradation research advances in hoping to provide the basic and comprehensive statistical data in the research area.As a matter of fact,the PFOS has aroused a common concern in the world as a kind of new persistent pollutant,a degradation product of perfluorinated compounds( PFCs) and a fully-fluorinated anionic surfactant. As a result of the latest research,PFOS has been widely found in water and sediment samples from the different countries and regions all over the world,whose concentrations may range from the minor contents to 458 ng /L in the water.And,to some extent,it can be said not yet to be detected to 11 ng /g dw in the sediments. It can hardly be found that there exist0-57 ng /L PFOS in the drinking water samples. The available research reports even tell us that PFOS can accumulate in the organisms,and can be amplified along with the food chain,with the liver being the main target organ of its biological accumulation.Other research results reveal that PFOS is harmful to some aquatic organisms,due to its toxicity,such as the organic toxicity,the embryonic toxicity,the reproduction toxicity and the immune toxicity. In addition,due to its hydrophobic and oleophobic properties,high chemical stability and bioinertia,it is also difficult for PFOS to be degraded under natural conditions. All the above said difficulties contribute to the poor situation that at present,the microbial degradation,ultrasonic degradation and the chemical reduction degradation still remain in the stage of exploration and development. Thus,it can be said that the study of PFOS should be focused more on the risks of the toxicity for the terrestrial organisms. What is more,more work remains in need to work out more efficient and convenient methods for PFOS degradation.