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Crop Contamination and Human Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances around a Fluorochemical Industrial Park in China

Authors :
Kairan Xu
Jian Huang
Yufeng Zhang
Xilong Wu
Dan Cai
Guocheng Hu
Yu Li
Zhuobiao Ni
Qingqi Lin
Shizhong Wang
Rongliang Qiu
Source :
Toxics, Vol 12, Iss 4, p 269 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Due to their significant environmental impact, there has been a gradual restriction of the production and utilization of legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), leading to continuous development and adoption of novel alternatives. To effectively identify the potential environmental risks from crop consumption, the levels of 25 PFAS, including fourteen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), two precursor substances and nine novel alternatives, in agricultural soils and edible parts of various crops around a fluoride industrial park (FIP) in Changshu city, China, were measured. The concentration of ΣPFAS in the edible parts of all crops ranged from 11.64 to 299.5 ng/g, with perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) being the dominant compound, accounting for an average of 71% of ΣPFAS. The precursor substance, N-methylperfluoro-octanesulfonamidoacetic acid (N-MeFOSAA), was detected in all crop samples. Different types of crops showed distinguishing accumulation profiles for the PFAS. Solanaceae and leafy vegetables showed higher levels of PFAS contamination, with the highest ΣPFAS concentrations reaching 190.91 and 175.29 ng/g, respectively. The highest ΣAlternative was detected in leafy vegetables at 15.21 ng/g. The levels of human exposure to PFAS through crop consumption for various aged groups were also evaluated. The maximum exposure to PFOA for urban toddlers reached 109.8% of the standard value set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In addition, short-chained PFAAs and novel alternatives may pose potential risks to human health via crop consumption.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23056304
Volume :
12
Issue :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Toxics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.30af1a93ee024467b33ea69a91745516
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12040269