Multicompartment occurrence and partitioning of alternative and legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in an impacted river in China

Per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging global environmental contaminants. Exploring the occurrence and environmental behavior of PFASs in the aquatic environment is a key step in solving global fluorine chemical pollution problems. In this study, surface water, pore water, and sediment were collected from the main tributary and the middle and lower reaches of the Daling River, adjacent to the Fuxin fluorochemical manufacturing facilities in Liaoning Province in China, to elucidate the occurrence and partition behavior of PFASs. The total concentrations of PFASs ranged from 48.4 to 4578 ng/L in the overlying water, from 173 to 9952 ng/L in the pore water, and from 2.16 to 40.3 ng/g dw in the sediment fraction. Generally, perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) were the predominant congeners in the samples, with the mean relative content fractions being almost consistently >40% in the dissolved phase and >25% in the sediment. Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) and chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonic acid (6:2 Cl-PFESA) were detected, albeit at low levels. In addition, the detection frequency and the contribution of legacy long-chain PFASs in sediment were higher than those in the overlying water and pore water. Except for perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), the concentrations of the alternative PFASs in the pore water were higher than in the overlying water. The organic carbon fraction was a more important controlling factor for PFAS sediment levels than cations content. As with legacy long-chain PFASs, HFPO-DA and 6:2 Cl-PFESA tended to partition into the solid phase, whereas short-chain PFASs were readily distributed in the aqueous phase. Such research results will be helpful in modeling the transport and fate of PFASs released by point sources into coastal waters through rivers and in developing effective risk assessment and management strategies for the control of PFAS pollution. • PFBS and PFBA were predominant in the overlying water, pore water and sediment in the Xi River-Daling River. • Alternatives were observed at higher concentrations in the pore water than in the overlying water. • Cations content had a lower impact on PFAS sediment levels when the organic carbon fraction was high enough. • As with PFOA and PFOS, HFPO-DA and 6:2 Cl-PFESA were prone to transfer from the aqueous phase to the solid phase.