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Ronny Berndtsson

Professor, Dep Director, MECW Dep Scientific Coordinator

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Impact of the Sediment Organic vs. Mineral Content on Distribution of the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Lake Sediment

Author

  • Dauren Mussabek
  • Kenneth M. Persson
  • Ronny Berndtsson
  • Lutz Ahrens
  • Kei Nakagawa
  • Tomomi Imura

Summary, in English

Contamination of the water and sediment with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was studied for the lake impacted by the release of PFAS-containing aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). PFAS concentrations were analyzed in lake water and sediment core samples. ΣPFAS concentrations were in the range of 95-100 ng L-1 in the lake water and 3.0-61 µg kg-1 dry weight (dw) in sediment core samples, both dominated by perfluorohexane sulfonate, perfluorooctane sulfonate; 6:2 fluortelomer sulfonate was inconsistently present in water and sediment core samples. The sediment-water partitioning coefficients (log Kd) were estimated and ranged 0.6-2.3 L kg-1 for individual perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) and 0.9-5.6 L kg-1 for individual perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs). The influence of the sediment inorganic content and organic matter on PFAS distribution was investigated. In studied sediments, the mineral content (corresponding to <5% of the bulk media mass) was mainly represented by sulfur, iron and calcium. The PFAS distribution was found strongly connected to the sediment mineral content (i.e., Fe, Pb, Rb and As), whereas the sediment organic carbon content did not to have a direct influence on the PFAS distribution. The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of the PFAS distribution in the natural heterogeneous media.

Department/s

  • Division of Water Resources Engineering
  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
  • LTH Profile Area: Water

Publishing year

2020

Language

English

Publication/Series

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

17

Issue

16

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

MDPI AG

Topic

  • Environmental Sciences

Keywords

  • AFFF
  • distribution
  • PFAS
  • sediment
  • water

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1660-4601