Deposition of PFAS 'forever chemicals' on Mt. Everest.
By K R Miner, H Clifford, T Taruscio, M Potocki, G Solomon, M Ritari, I E Napper, A P Gajurel, and P A Mayewski
Sci Total Environ
December 28, 2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144421
Mt. Everest, one of the most coveted climbing mountains on earth, also contains the highest altitude chemical contamination on land. For the first time, meltwater and snow samples from Mt. Everest's Khumbu Glacier were analyzed for "forever chemicals" per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Our research team utilized solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify pollutants sampled from Everest Base Camp, Camp 1, Camp 2, and Everest Balcony. From the 14 PFAS compounds tested for, we found perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) in Mt. Everest snow and meltwater. The highest concentrations found were 26.14 ng/L and 10.34 ng/L PFOS at Base Camp and Camp 2, respectively. However, PFAS species were seen within 1-2 orders of magnitude in all sampling sites with detection, potentially suggesting a widespread presence on the mountain. Our samples are the highest altitude PFAS samples ever retrieved and indicate the need for further sampling both on Mt. Everest and in the below-glacier watershed.
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