Exploring the fate, transport and risk of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in a coastal region of China using a multimedia model

Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and related substances have been widely applied in both industrial processes and domestic products in China. Exploring the environmental fate and transport of PFOS using modeling methods provides an important link between emission and multimedia diffusion which forms a vital part in the human health risk assessment and chemical management for these substances. In this study, the gridded fugacity based BETR model was modified to make it more suitable to model transfer processes of PFOS in a coastal region, including changes to PFOS partition coefficients to reflect the influence of water salinity on its sorption behavior. The fate and transport of PFOS in the Bohai coastal region of China were simulated under steady state with the modified version of the model. Spatially distributed emissions of PFOS and related substances in 2010 were estimated and used in these simulations. Four different emission scenarios were investigated, in which a range of half-lives for PFOS related substances were considered. Concentrations of PFOS in air, vegetation, soil, fresh water, fresh water sediment and coastal water were derived from the model under the steady-state assumption. The median modeled PFOS concentrations in fresh water, fresh water sediment and soil were 7.20ng/L, 0.39ng/g and 0.21ng/g, respectively, under Emission Scenario 2 (which assumed all PFOS related substances immediately degrade to PFOS) for the whole region, while the maximum concentrations were 47.10ng/L, 4.98ng/g and 2.49ng/g, respectively. Measured concentration data for PFOS in the Bohai coastal region around the year of 2010 were collected from the literature. The reliability of the model results was evaluated by comparing the range of modeled concentrations with the measured data, which generally matched well for the main compartments. Fate and transfer fluxes were derived from the model based on the calculated inventory within the compartments, transfer fluxes between compartments and advection fluxes between sub-regions. It showed that soil and costal water were likely to be the most important sinks of PFOS in the Bohai costal region, in which more than 90% of PFOS was stored. Flows of fresh water were the driving force for spatial transport of PFOS in this region. Influences of the seasonal change of fresh water fluxes on the model results were also analyzed. When only seasonal changes of the fresh water flow rates were considered, concentrations of PFOS in winter and spring were predicted to be higher than that under annual average conditions, while the concentrations in summer and autumn were lower. For PFOS fluxes entering the sea, opposite conclusions were drawn compared to the concentrations. Environmental risks from the presence of PFOS in fresh water were assessed for this region through comparison with available water quality criteria values. The predicted concentrations of PFOS in the Bohai coastal region provided by the model were lower than the water quality criteria published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Chinese researchers, while the concentrations in more than 80% of the sampling locations exceeded the European Union Water Framework Directive Environmental Quality Standards values. Seasonal variations of flow rate might cause a significant increase in environmental risks

Estimation of PFOS emission from domestic sources in the eastern coastal region of China

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and related chemicals (collectively "PFOS equivalents") have been released to the environment through widespread consumer use and disposal of PFOS-containing products like carpet, leather, textiles, paper, food containers, household cleansers, etc. Accordingly, in addition to PFOS-related industries, domestic activities may also considerably contribute to the PFOS emissions in the eastern coastal region of China, which has been characterized by high industrial input. In the present study, domestic emissions of PFOS equivalents derived from municipal wastewater treatment plants were estimated at the county level, using a regression model of domestic emission density with population density and per capita disposable income as independent variables. The total emission load of PFOS equivalents from domestic sources in the eastern coastal region of China was 381 kg in 2010, and large cities were prominent as the emission centers. The domestic emission density averaged 0.37 g/km(2).a for the entire study area. Generally, the Beijing-Tianjin area, Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, as the most populous and economically developed areas in China, showed significantly higher emission density. Geographical variations within individual provinces were noteworthy. The average per capita discharge load of PFOS equivalents arising from domestic activities was 1.91 mu g/day per capita in the eastern coastal region of China, which is consistent with previous estimates in Korea, but lower than those calculated for developed countries. In comparison, the spatial distributions of provincial PFOS emissions from domestic and industrial sources were similar to each other; however, the latter was much larger for all the provinces

Industrial source identification and emission estimation of perfluorooctane sulfonate in China

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and related chemicals (collectively "PFOS equivalents") are currently manufactured and used in a wide variety of industrial processes in China. Since 2003, the national annual production has increased dramatically to accommodate both domestic demands and ongoing overseas needs for metal plating, fire-fighting foams, photographic, semiconductor and aviation industries. Accordingly, PFOS-related industries are significant sources of PFOS to the environment in China, though little information is available. In the present study, industrial sources of PFOS in China were identified and emissions from major related industries, including PFOS manufacture, textile treatment, metal plating, fire-fighting and semiconductor industries, were evaluated. Contribution by various industrial sources and spatial distribution of the PFOS emission were discussed. It was estimated that the total emission of PFOS equivalents in China was 70t in 2010. Industrial use of PFOS in metal plating was identified as the largest source of PFOS pollution at the national level, followed by textile treatment, fire-fighting, PFOS manufacture and semiconductor industry. At the regional level, greater contributions were made by metal plating and textile treatment in most provinces of eastern China, while in the western part of China and several northeastern provinces fire-fighting was the predominant source. The contribution by PFOS manufacture was considerable in Hubei and Fujian provinces. Total emission, emission density and emission intensity showed geographical variations. In general, the eastern coastal provinces, as the most intensively industrialized regions of China, were characterized by significantly higher emission rates, emission density and emission intensity than those in western and northern China. Available monitoring data of PFOS concentrations in surface water of China reflected a similar distribution pattern, confirming that manufacture and industrial uses were crucial sources of PFOS pollution which would cause significant risks in the environment

Using gridded multimedia model to simulate spatial fate of Benzo[α]pyrene on regional scale

Predicting the environmental multimedia fate is an essential step in the process of assessing the human exposure and health impacts of chemicals released into the environment. Multimedia fate models have been widely applied to calculate the fate and distribution of chemicals in the environment, which can serve as input to a human exposure model. In this study, a grid based multimedia fugacity model at regional scale was developed together with a case study modeling the fate and transfer of Benzo[α]pyrene (BaP) in Bohai coastal region, China. Based on the estimated emission and in-site survey in 2008, the BaP concentrations in air, vegetation, soil, fresh water, fresh water sediment and coastal water as well as the transfer fluxes were derived under the steady-state assumption. The model results were validated through comparison between the measured and modeled concentrations of BaP. The model results indicated that the predicted concentrations of BaP in air, fresh water, soil and sediment generally agreed with field observations. Model predictions suggest that soil was the dominant sink of BaP in terrestrial systems. Flow from air to soil, vegetation and costal water were three major pathways of BaP inter-media transport processes. Most of the BaP entering the sea was transferred by air flow, which was also the crucial driving force in the spatial distribution processes of BaP. The Yellow River, Liaohe River and Daliao River played an important role in the spatial transformation processes of BaP. Compared with advection outflow, degradation was more important in removal processes of BaP. Sensitivities of the model estimates to input parameters were tested. The result showed that emission rates, compartment dimensions, transport velocity and degradation rates of BaP were the most influential parameters for the model output. Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to determine parameter uncertainty, from which the coefficients of variation for the estimated BaP concentrations in air and soil were computed, which were 0.46 and 1.53, respectively. The model output-concentrations of BaP in multimedia environment can be used in human exposure and risk assessment in the Bohai coastal region. The results also provide significant indicators on the likely dominant fate, influence range of emission and transport processes determining behavior of BaP in the Bohai coastal region, which is instrumental in human exposure and risk assessment in the region