Bioavailability and bioaccumulation of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate, 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonates and perfluorophosphinates in a soil-plant system

By Jian Zhou, Min Li, Jiaqian Li, Zixuan Shao, Yiman Liu, Tiecheng Wang, and Lingyan Zhu
J. Agric. Food Chem.
April 7, 2020
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c00542

As emerging alternatives of legacy perfluoroalkyl substances, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (6:2 FTS), 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonates (6:2 Cl-PFESA) and perfluorophosphinates (C6/C6 and C8/C8 PFPiAs) are supposed to be partitioned to soil and highly persistent in the environment. The uptake of novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) by plants represents a potential pathway for their transfer in food chain. In this study, the bioavailability of these four novel PFASs in soil and the bioaccumulation characteristics in greenhouse-grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) and pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima L.) were investigated. The results indicated that these novel PFASs with higher hydrophobicity were more easily sequestrated in soil, and the fractions extracted by methanol could well describe their bioavailability, which could be stimulated by low molecular weight organic acids at environmentally relevant concentrations. A negative relationship was found between root soil concentration factors (RSCFs) and hydrophobicity (log Kow) of the target PFASs. Such correlation was also found in the translocation factors (TF) from roots to shoots. Furthermore, the uptake and transfer of the target PFASs were regulated by the protein contents in plant roots and shoots.

View on PubMed

Topics: