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 Σ16 PFAS in the different media were in the ranges of 20.7–98.2 pg/m3 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 Σ19 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 Kd) and bioaccumulation factors (log BAF) of PFAS were calculated using measured concentrations in water, sediments, and fish. Log Kd 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.