Perfluoroalkyl Substance Assessment in Turin Metropolitan Area and Correlation with Potential Sources of Pollution According to the Water Safety Plan Risk Management Approach

Abstract

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a huge class of Contaminants of Emerging Concern, well-known to be persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. They have been detected in different environmental matrices, in wildlife and even in humans, with drinking water being considered as the main exposure route. Therefore, the present study focused on the estimation of PFAS in the Metropolitan Area of Turin, where SMAT (Società Metropolitana Acque Torino S.p.A.) is in charge of the management of the water cycle and the development of a tool for supporting “smart” water quality monitoring programs to address emerging pollutants’ assessments using multivariate spatial and statistical analysis tools. A new “green” analytical method was developed and validated in order to determine 16 different PFAS in drinking water with a direct injection to the Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) system and without any pretreatment step. The validation of this analytical method resulted in really low Quantification Limits (5 ng L−1), in satisfying recoveries (70%–102%) and in a good linearity (R2 = 0.99) for every compound. Among the results, only 4 compounds and only 6% of the samples showed a pollution level higher than the limits of and Quantification (LOQ). Finally, the correlation study between the assessment findings and the industrial sites which serve as potential sources of pollution in the monitored area was carried out.

Occurrence and Human Health Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Hormones in Drinking Water Sources in the Metropolitan Area of Turin in Italy

“…The present study focused on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and hormones in the Metropolitan Area of Turin (Piemonte, Italy), where SMAT is in charge of water distribution to 2.3 million inhabitants, supervising 293 municipalities. Within the context of Green Analytical Chemistry and for avoiding the costs, efforts and environmental impact of chemical analyses at a large-scale blind monitoring assessment, the selection of the sampling points based on the prioritization of the sites at major risk was done according to a geographical model, built in a previous study [28]. Spatial and multivariate statistical analysis tools were used in order to predict potential pollution levels and classify "hotspot" areas for monitoring.…”

“…Within the context of Green Analytical Chemistry and in order to avoid a blind monitoring, a correlation study between the already existing sampling points in the area and the potential pollution sources was done based on a geographical model developed in another study [28]. Of note, 270 sampling points among the Metropolitan Area of Turin, including both surface and groundwater, resulted at a higher risk based on spatial regression, which correlated their geographical position with WWTPs, hospitals and care houses within a radius of 5 km, taking into account the nearest-neighbor points as well.…”

Hyphenated High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry Techniques for the Determination of Perfluorinated Alkylated Substances in Lombardia Region in Italy, Profile Levels and Assessment: One Year of Monitoring Activities During 2018

“…In the last twenty years, a wide variety of pollutants have been found in soils, sediments and water [1][2][3]. For this reason, the environmental community has made efforts to improve monitoring activities, especially in the context of water [4,5] and emerging pollutants. In this regard, the hyphenated techniques offer sensitivity and robustness in order to achieve quality performances as required from regulations.…”

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Presence, Pathways, and Cycling through Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment

“…Interestingly, Boiteux et al (2017) reported that ozonation increased the concentration of certain PFAS. If PFAS are inefficiently removed from contaminated source water, they will remain in finished drinking water and will result in a primary exposure route for human populations (Binetti et al 2019;Boiteux et al 2017).…”