Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO4 9LY, UK.
Marine Conservation Society, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 7US, UK.
Chemosphere. 2024 Oct;366:143526. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143526. Epub 2024 Oct 11.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and their degradation products are a concern to human and ecosystem health. Wastewater treatment plants are not efficient at removing PFAS compounds and are thought to be a major source of these compounds to marine environments. The sewerage infrastructure in the UK, has over 20,000 combined stormwater overflows (CSOs). These CSOs are relief values whereby untreated wastewater can discharge under permit from the Environment Agency with exceptional rain/snowfall conditions. CSOs discharged 3.6 million monitored hours of untreated wastewater into English rivers and coasts in 2023. Concerns have been raised about the proximity of these CSO discharges to highly protected marine habitats. This study is the first to determine that PFAS concentrations are elevated in a highly protected marine bay (Langstone Harbour, England) following recent sewage releases compared to an extended period without discharge. Analysis was carried out into a suite of 54 PFAS compounds of which only one (PFHpA) was detectable above LOD prior to discharges but 8 afterwards. These included banned PFOS (Linear and Branched 8.6 ng/L ∓ 0.90) and PFOA (2.9 ng/L ∓ 0.29) which were above annual average EQS for inland and 'other' surface waters. Most of the PFAS compounds detected doubled in concentration above LODs. These two-fold increases we discuss are likely conservative estimates based on the use of LODs and tidal conditions. Additional Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and Seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus) were taken revealing high concentrations of the shorter chain PFBA (6.99μg/kg ∓ 2.42 ww) in seaweed samples. These seaweeds were calculated to have conservative bioaccumulation factors (BAF) > 6000 for PFBA indicating these algae might be an important reservoir of some PFAS contamination. We discuss these results in the context of the largescale discharges of untreated wastewater nationally and globally, and call upon a need for a better understanding of the transfer of PFAS contaminants into marine food chains.
全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）及其降解产物对人类和生态系统健康构成关注。废水处理厂在去除 PFAS 化合物方面效率不高，被认为是这些化合物进入海洋环境的主要来源。英国的下水道基础设施有超过 20000 个合流污水溢流（CSO）。这些 CSO 是缓解值，在特殊的降雨/降雪条件下，未经处理的废水可以在环境署的许可下排放。2023 年，CSO 向英国河流和沿海地区排放了 360 万小时未经处理的废水。有人担心这些 CSO 排放物靠近高度受保护的海洋生境。这项研究首次确定，与无排放的延长时期相比，在最近污水排放后，高度受保护的海洋港湾（英格兰朗斯通港）中的 PFAS 浓度升高。对 54 种 PFAS 化合物进行了分析，其中只有一种（PFHpA）在排放前可检测到低于检测限，但排放后可检测到 8 种。其中包括被禁止的 PFOS（线性和支链 8.6ng/L±0.90）和 PFOA（2.9ng/L±0.29），这两种物质都超过了内陆和“其他”地表水的年度平均 EQS。检测到的大多数 PFAS 化合物的浓度在检测限以上增加了一倍。我们讨论的这种两倍的增加可能是基于使用检测限和潮汐条件的保守估计。还采集了额外的牡蛎（Crassostrea gigas）和海藻（Fucus vesiculosus），海藻样本中发现了短链 PFBA（6.99μg/kg±2.42 ww）的高浓度。这些海藻的保守生物积累因子（BAF）>6000，表明 PFBA 表明这些藻类可能是一些 PFAS 污染的重要储存库。我们在全国和全球范围内大规模排放未经处理的废水的背景下讨论这些结果，并呼吁更好地了解 PFAS 污染物转移到海洋食物链的情况。
