Environmental Risk Assessment Resulting from Sediment Contamination with Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Abstract

Due to wide use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) (e.g., in metal-plating, in fire-fighting foam, lubricants) and their resistance to degradation, they occur widely in the environment. The aim of this study was to estimate the environmental risk resulting from the presence of PFASs in the Gulf of Gdansk. Therefore, 17 PFASs concentrations were determined using ultra performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (UPLC-MS/MS). Additionally, sediment ecotoxicity was investigated. The results of the chemical analysis were used to asses environmental risk of PFASs. In samples collected around discharge collectors from a wastewater treatment plant and the Vistula mouth, Σ17PFASs values were 0.00403 ÷ 40.6 and 0.509 ÷ 614 ng/g d.w., respectively. In samples collected around discharge collectors, PFHxA, PFPeA, PFHpA, and PFOA were dominating, while at the Vistula River mouth, PFHxS, PFDS, and PFBS were prevalent. For most sediments, no toxic effect was observed in the toxicity tests with Heterocypris inconguens and Aliivibrio ficsheri. There was no observed correlation between the PFASs level and their ecotoxicity. Generally, the results of environmental risk assessment indicate that the PFASs would not generate high impact on the aquatic life (five water samples have shown medium risk related to PFBS and PFDoA).

Higher Number of Yeast-like Fungi in the Air in 2018 after an Emergency Discharge of Raw Sewage to the Gulf of Gdańsk—Use of Contingency Tables

“…There are many environmental studies in which multivariate statistical methods were used, for instance, physicochemical analysis of surface waters [34,37,39], waters in retention reservoirs [36], bottom sediments [48,49] and atmospheric air [31,50], as well as the assessment of the microbiological quality of air [3,33,38]. In our current study, the multivariate data analysis with the use of contingency tables showed a statistically significant relationship between the number of molds and yeast-like fungi in the coastal towns in 2014-2017 and 2018.…”

Planet Contamination with Chemical Compounds

“…The presence of 17 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), as representatives of emerging contaminants in the Gulf of Gdansk, are discussed in the paper of Gałęzowska et al [ 16 ]. Due to wide use of PFASs (e.g., in metal-plating, in fire-fighting foam, lubricants) and their resistance to degradation, they occur widely in the environment.…”