Perfluorinated compounds in Haihe River and Dagu Drainage Canal in Tianjin, China

In this study, nine perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were investigated in water and sediment of Haihe River (HR) and Dagu Drainage Canal (DDC), Tianjin, China. The total PFCs in water samples from DDC (40–174 ng L−1) was much greater than those from HR (12–74 ng L−1). PFC contamination was severe at lower reaches of HR due to industry activities, while high PFCs were found in the middle of DDC due to the effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were the predominant PFCs in aqueous phase. The total PFCs in sediments from DDC (1.6–7.7 ng g−1 dry weight) were lower as compared to HR (7.1–16 ng g−1), maybe due to the dredging of sediment in DDC conducted recently. PFOS was the major PFC in HR sediments followed by PFOA; while PFHxA was the major PFC in DDC sediments. Organic carbon calibrated sediment–water distribution coefficients (KOC) were calculated for HR. The Log KOC ranged from 3.3 to 4.4 for C7–C11 perfluorinated carboxylic acids, increasing by 0.1–0.6 log units with each additional CF2 moiety. The log KOC for 8:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated acid was reported for the first time with a mean value of 4.0. The log Koc of PFOS was higher than perfluoronanoic acid by 0.8 log units.

► Nine PFCs were detected in sediment and water samples from HR and DDC, Tianjin China.
► The PFCs distribution and sources were investigated in HR and DDC.
► The KD values were calculated for HR and compared with other literature.
► The KOC values were calculated and compared among different kinds of PFCs.