Perfluorocarboxylic acids(PFCAs)and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates(PFASs)in surface and tap water around Lake Taihu in China

Perfluorinated compounds(PFCs)are ubiquitously distributed in the environment mainly as perfluorocarboxylic acids(PFCAs)and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates(PFASs).In this paper,six PFCAs and two PFASs were quantified in surface and tap water samples from 12 sites around Lake Taihu near Shanghai City in East China.Predominant PFCs were perfluorooctanoic acid(PFOA)and perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS),of which the concentration ranges were 6.8–206 and 1.2–45 ng·L^(–1),the geometric means were 35.3 and 9.4 ng·L^(–1),and the median(quartile range)values were 31.4(34.4)and 10.4(10.7)ng·L^(–1),respectively.Other PFCs were also detected but in much lower concentrations than PFOA.The sources of the PFCs were expected to be direct industrial discharges in the Lake Taihu area,and this area was also a possible source of PFCs contaminations in Shanghai district in the downstream.PFCs distributions were found different in the upstream,downstream and north part of Lake Taihu.Occurrences of PFCs in the tap water in Lake Taihu area indicated their exposure to the local people.A brief estimation of the environmental risks by PFCs implied no acute or immediate risks from PFCs to local human health,but chronic risks from PFOA in the tap water should be considered in the downstream regions.

Decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid by microwaveactivated persulfate： Effects of temperature, pH, and chloride ions

Microwave-hydrothermal treatment of persis- tent and bioaccumulative perfluorooctanoic acid （PFOA） in water with persulfate （S2O2-） has been found effective. However, applications of this process to effectively remediate PFOA pollution require a better understanding on free-radical scavenging reactions that also take place. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects ofpH （pH= 2.5, 6.6, 8.8, and 10.5）, chloride concentra- tions （0.01-0.15 mol.L-1）, and temperature （60℃, 90℃, and 130℃） on persulfate oxidation of PFOA under microwave irradiation. Maximum PFOA degradation occurred at pH 2.5, while little or no degradation at pH 10.5. Lowering system pH resulted in an increase in PFOA degradation rate. Both high pH and chloride concentrations would result in more scavenging of sulfate free radicals and slow down PFOA degradation. When chloride concentrations were less than 0.04 mol.L^-1 at 90℃ and 0.06mol.L^-1 at 60℃, presence of chloride ions had insignificant impacts on PFOA degradation. However, beyond these concentration levels, PFOA degradation rates reduced significantly with an increase in chloride concentrations, especially under the higher temperature.

Effects of pH on photochemical decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid in different atmospheres by 185 nm vacuum ultraviolet

Perfluorooctanoic acid （PFOA）, a persistent organic pollutant, receives increasing concerns due to its worldwide occurrence and resistance to most conventional treatment processes. The photochemical decomposition by 185 nm vacuum ultraviolet （VUV） is one of the efficient methods for PFOA decomposition. The effects of pH on PFOA decomposition in nitrogen atmosphere or oxygen atmosphere were investigated. At its original pH （4.5） of PFOA aqueous solution, PFOA decomposed efficiently both in nitrogen and in oxygen atmosphere. However, when the pH increased to 12.0, PFOA decomposition was greatly inhibited in oxygen atmosphere, while it was greatly accelerated in nitrogen atmosphere with a very short half-life time （9 rain）. Furthermore, fluorine atoms originally contained in PFOA molecules were almost completely transformed into fluoride ions. Two decomposi- tion pathways have been proposed to explain the PFOA decomposition under different conditions. In acidic and neutral solutions, PFOA predominantly decomposes via the direct photolysis in both atmospheres; while in the alkaline solution and in the absence of oxygen, the decomposition of PFOA is mainly induced by hydrated electrons.