Concentration and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Asan Lake area of South Korea

Abstract

Seasonal and spatial variations in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations in different environmental media in the Asan Lake area of South Korea were investigated by measuring liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The mean concentrations of Sigma(16) PFAS in the different media were in the ranges of 20.7-98.2 pg/m(3) in air, 17.7-467 ng/L in water, 0.04-15.0 ng/g dry weight (dw) in sediments, and not detected (n.d.)-12.9 ng/g dw in soils, and the mean concentrations of Sigma(19) PFAS in fish ranged from n.d. to 197 ng/g wet weight. The most frequently detected PFAS were perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in air and soils, perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) in water, and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in sediment and fish. Long-chain PFAS species dominated over short-chain PFAS in most media samples except for the water phase. Sediment-water partition coefficients (log K-d) and bioaccumulation factors (log BAF) of PFAS were calculated using measured concentrations in water, sediments, and fish. Log K-d of PFAS tended to increase with increasing CF2 units of PFAS, and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and PFOS showed the highest log BAF value (> 3.0) in all fish species. These results indicate that longer-chain PFAS, especially PFOS, can be effectively accumulated in biota such as fish.