Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging pollutants with so peculiar physico-chemical characteristics that these compounds found wide applications in several industrial processes and daily products. Their characteristics and the wide use make them widespread in all environmental compartments, very persistent and partially bioaccumulable.
A past survey at the basin closures of the main European rivers highlighted that river Po was the most contaminated (200 ng/L) by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the currently most diffused perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA). This evidence led to a funded project which aimed to evaluate the PFAA distribution in main Italian river basins and to assess the correlated environmental and sanitary risks.
An UHPLC-MS/MS multi-residue method based on an on-line SPE procedure was developed for the simultaneous determination of 12 PFAAs to support the sampling program in river basins that covered about 40% of the Italian surface area and about 45% of the Italian population.
In Italy the most important sources of PFAA are fluorochemical plants, followed by discharges from tannery and textile industrial districts, while the contribution of urban areas is limited. Considering the most populated and industrialized Italian area, the river Lambro basin, Lombardy, detailed mass balance of the emission sources have been carried out.
The environmental risks for the aquatic ecosystem were evaluated in river Bormida (Piedmont) downstream the discharge of a fluoropolymer plant which is the most significant source of PFOA in Italy. An effect-based approach was applied to the study of macrobenthic community, evaluating the ecological quality, the community structure and the genetic variance
