Influence of salinity and temperature on uptake of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) by hydroponically grown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have recently attracted increasing concerns due to their ubiquitous existence, adverse effects and persistence in environment. This study employed four perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) to examine effects of salinity and temperature on the PFAS uptake in wheat, one of the major crops in the North China Plain. Wheat plants were grown in the spiked-PFCA hydroponic culture system at different salinities and temperatures. As expected, salinity and temperature significantly impacted the root uptake and translocation of wheat to four PFCAs, and the concentrations for each of PFCAs in wheat root and shoot increased with increasing salinity and temperature, respectively. PFCA concentrations at high salinity or high temperature were up to thrice those found at low salinity or low temperature. Except for perfluorobutanoic acid, the amount of PFCAs in root was always higher than that in shoot at the ranges of salinity and temperature tested. Additionally salinity and temperature were also capable of influencing the transfer factors (TFs) of four PFCAs, and significant increase was observed in the TFs in response to the increases in salinity and temperature.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2016-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Toxicological profile for perfluoroalkyls

“…Laboratory studies have suggested that short-chain perfluoroalkyls such as PFBA are more concentrated in edible portions of plants when compared to longer carbon chain substances such as PFOA or PFOS (Blaine et al 2013;2014a, 2014b. Yoo et al (2011) from the roots into the shoots by the wheat plants grown in hydroponic systems spiked with perfluorocarboxylic acids (Zhao et al 2016). Transport into the shoots also increased with decreasing carbon chain length.…”

Uptake of perfluorinated alkyl acids by crops: results from a field study

“…37 Salinity and temperature were shown to be positively correlated with PFAA uptake rate, whereby this was attributed to the inuence of these variables on transpiration rate. 38 Concerning accumulation in roots, root uptake factors from soil calculated on the basis of concentrations in pore water were up to two orders of magnitude lower than root uptake factors for the same crop (lettuce) in a hydroponic exposure. This was attributed to lower sorption to the roots surface as a result of competition from other molecules in the pore water and indicates that hydroponic experiments are of limited value for studying accumulation in roots.…”

Translocation, bioaccumulation, and distribution of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in plants

“…(2014) did not observe a pH-dependent absorption of PFOS in maize plants growing in nutrient solution, but found that PFDA had a higher accumulation at a pH 5 than at pH 7. Zhao et al. (2016) showed that the root concentration of each PFCA increased with increase in temperature, and that with a temperature increase from 20°C to 30°C, the root absorption of long-chain PFCA was faster than that of short-chain PFCA in wheat.…”