Occurrence, Sources and Prioritization of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Drinking Water from Yangtze River Delta, China: Focusing on Emerging PFASs

Abstract

As regulations ban legacy PFASs, many emerging PFASs are being developed, leading to their release into the aquatic environment and drinking water. However, researches on these emerging PFASs in drinking water are limited, and current standards only cover a few legacy PFASs, leaving many emerging PFASs unregulated and their toxicity unknown. Therefore, a machine learning-based suspect screening method was employed to comprehensively identify and quantify both legacy and novel PFAS in drinking water from the Yangtze River Delta, and their potential sources of contamination were determined through pollutant profile analysis. Then, the identified PFASs were prioritized by integrating the PBT (persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity) properties of PFASs with environmental exposure data. A total of 30 PFASs were identified, including 16 legacy and 14 novel PFASs, categorized into 11 classes. The pollutant profile analysis suggested that PFASs in the Yangtze River Delta’s drinking water are more likely to originate from pollution in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River rather than from local industrial emissions. In the prioritization and risk assessment process, ten high-concern PFASs had Risk Index (RIs) higher than those of ref-PFOA and ref-PFOS, including eight legacy PFASs and two novel PFASs. The drinking water of Yangtze River Delta originates from the surface water of the lower Yangtze River, which accumulates pollutants from its upper and middle reaches, affecting the health of over 20 million people. Our findings indicated the presence of emerging PFASs in the region’s drinking water and demonstrated conceptual models for integrating chemical information from suspect screening with toxicity prediction and risk assessment. Although the current levels of emerging PFASs are relatively low, legacy PFASs still dominate. Further research is needed to identify, monitor, and assess the health and environmental risks of emerging PFASs.