Risks posed by per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the African continent, emphasizing aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are organic pollutants that may have adverse effects on the ecosystem. Despite the global presence of PFAS, knowledge of PFAS on the African continent is limited because monitoring of PFAS is challenging and often not feasible owing to the lack of analytical capacity and high cost. However, it is necessary to understand the environmental risks posed by these chemicals in developing countries, because increasing urbanization will likely increase PFAS contamination in the environment. Although, as far as is known, PFAS concentrations in the African aquatic environment are generally lower than in more developed countries, exceedances of ecological quality standards (EQS) were reported in a few cases, providing evidence of potential ecological risks to these ecosystems. However, the number of ecosystems at risk will likely increase as urbanization and modernization increase in African countries. Therefore, environmental regulations should be updated and implemented to reduce further contamination of the aquatic environment with these chemicals. In addition, analytical laboratories in Africa should develop their capacity to detect PFAS and related compounds regularly and routinely. Local hot spots need to be identified, the influence of these hot spots on the PFAS burden in the environment should be investigated, and environmental regulations should be implemented for these hot spots to reduce their environmental impact. Therefore, we recommend a more routine monitoring of PFAS, including new PFAS that are currently used as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) alternatives, which are not regulated and environmentally concerning. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:726–732. © 2021 SETAC

Legacy and Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Behave Distinctly in Spatial Distribution and Multimedia Partitioning: A Case Study in the Pearl River, China

“…Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been widely used as surfactants and surface protectors in numerous industrial and household products . Ubiquitous occurrence of PFASs has attracted worldwide concern on their ecotoxicological outcomes in various environmental media. − PFASs would trigger reproductive and developmental toxicity in aquatic organisms, , posing a potential risk to the aquatic ecosystem. , Therefore, it is of paramount significance to holistically evaluate the ecological risk of PFASs in field waterways. This requires a better understanding on fate of PFASs in an aquatic system; particularly, PFASs may behave differently from traditional hydrophobic organic contaminants.…”

“…2−4 PFASs would trigger reproductive and developmental toxicity in aquatic organisms, 5,6 posing a potential risk to the aquatic ecosystem. 7,8 Therefore, it is of paramount significance to holistically evaluate the ecological risk of PFASs in field waterways. This requires a better understanding on fate of PFASs in an aquatic system; particularly, PFASs may behave differently from traditional hydrophobic organic contaminants.…”

Distribution of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in water, sediment, and fish tissue, and the potential human health risks due to fish consumption in Lake Hawassa, Ethiopia

“…Monitoring PFASs in Africa is important, as, for example, an increase of PFASs contamination in developing countries is expected due to the increased modernization and importation of PFASscontaining consumer products. Although PFASs monitoring is challenging and often not feasible due to the high costs of the analyses and the lack of analytical capacity in African countries (Groffen et al, 2021b), there is a need to investigate the environmental distribution and potential risks posed by PFAS in these countries (Sindiui et al, 2013;Ssebugere et al, 2020). To the best of author's knowledge, this is the first study on PFASs in Lake Hawassa, Ethiopia.…”

Waste streams as current sources of persistent organic pollutants and organophosphate esters in Africa - a critical review

“…Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chlorinated paraffins (CPs), BFRs, PCBs, OPEs and mirex have been observed in various environmental media in Africa, including air [7,10,11] , dust samples [12,13] , soil [14,15] and water [16][17][18] , as well as in human samples [19][20][21] . However, waste streams (complete paths of wastes from their sources to recovery, recycling or final disposal) have indicated excessive concentrations of POPs in many studies [22] , including in Africa [22,23] .…”