Researchers discover many overlooked Per- and polyfluorinated chemicals contaminants in rivers in Germany and China

 

Per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) have very harmful effects on human health and the environment. They are still used in numerous everyday products. A team of researchers, from Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon investigated water samples from German and Chinese rivers affected by industrial point sources. They identified almost 60 substances that are overlooked by conventional analysis of well-known PFAS. Eight substances were detected in the environment for the first time. One fifth of the investigated blood samples from German children and adolescents were above the maximum safe level. They identified 86 PFAS – only about 30 of them are routinely analysed by specialized labs, eight substances have not been reported in the environment before. In the Xiaoqing River, the globally banned substance PFOA and traditionally non-investigated PFAS, such as chlorinated PFOA, were the most prevalent compounds. In contrast, replacement chemicals, such as hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimer acid (HFPO-DA), 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid (ADONA) und the degradation product perfluoromethoxypropanoic acid (PFMOPrA), were the predominant compounds in the Alz River.

 


Hanna Joerss et al.; Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: Suspect Screening Reveals Point Source-Specific Patterns of Emerging and Novel Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in German and Chinese Rivers; Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022

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