TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Microestuaries
T2 - Occurrence, Distribution, and Risks
AU - Topaz, Tom
AU - Gridish, Noam
AU - Sade, Tal
AU - Zedaka, Hadar
AU - Suari, Yair
AU - Konomi, Antigoni
AU - Gkotsis, Georgios
AU - Aleiferi, Eleni
AU - Nika, Maria Christina
AU - Thomaidis, Nikolaos S.
AU - Chefetz, Benny
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2024/5/14
Y1 - 2024/5/14
N2 - Microestuaries have a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and human life quality in heavily populated areas. They are also the last barrier controlling fluxes of pollutants from the land to sea. Here, we report the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during the dry season in three microestuaries. The total PFAS concentration (n = 12) at the studied estuaries was very high from a global perspective with maximum and median concentrations of 17.4 and 3.4 μg L-1, respectively. These concentrations significantly exceed the recommended benchmarks for recreational activity. Our analysis reveals that a major fraction of PFAS originated from wastewater effluents, whereas point source pollution dominated when the estuary met an industrial zone containing refinery facilities. In the case of limited dilution by natural riverine water, we suggest using carbamazepine as a steady indicator for the identification of PFAS originating from wastewater. Although the three studied microestuaries exhibit similar characteristics (morphology, precipitation, watershed size, water volume, etc.), changes in water input and connectivity to the sea, along with local anthropogenic activity, dramatically alter the occurrence, concentrations, and distribution of PFAS. This study suggests that microestuaries are subjected to high ecological risk from PFAS pollution due to intensive anthropogenic activity.
AB - Microestuaries have a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and human life quality in heavily populated areas. They are also the last barrier controlling fluxes of pollutants from the land to sea. Here, we report the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during the dry season in three microestuaries. The total PFAS concentration (n = 12) at the studied estuaries was very high from a global perspective with maximum and median concentrations of 17.4 and 3.4 μg L-1, respectively. These concentrations significantly exceed the recommended benchmarks for recreational activity. Our analysis reveals that a major fraction of PFAS originated from wastewater effluents, whereas point source pollution dominated when the estuary met an industrial zone containing refinery facilities. In the case of limited dilution by natural riverine water, we suggest using carbamazepine as a steady indicator for the identification of PFAS originating from wastewater. Although the three studied microestuaries exhibit similar characteristics (morphology, precipitation, watershed size, water volume, etc.), changes in water input and connectivity to the sea, along with local anthropogenic activity, dramatically alter the occurrence, concentrations, and distribution of PFAS. This study suggests that microestuaries are subjected to high ecological risk from PFAS pollution due to intensive anthropogenic activity.
KW - contamination
KW - ecosystem
KW - pollution
KW - recreation
KW - river
KW - salinity
KW - toxicity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184749136&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00882
DO - 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00882
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AN - SCOPUS:85184749136
SN - 2328-8930
VL - 11
SP - 466
EP - 471
JO - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
JF - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
IS - 5
ER -