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Uptake of perfluoroalkyl acids in the leaves of coniferous and deciduous broad‐leaved trees
Author(s) -
Zhang Huanhuan,
Liu Wei,
He Xin,
Wang Yu,
Zhang Qian
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.2968
Subject(s) - deciduous , bioindicator , environmental chemistry , sophora , biomonitoring , chemistry , botany , environmental science , biology , medicine , alternative medicine , traditional chinese medicine , pathology
Analytical methods for determining perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in leaves were developed to quantify a suite of analytes in both coniferous and deciduous broad‐leaved trees. Sodium hydroxide‐methanol and solid‐phase extraction was selected as the extracting and cleanup strategy for PFAA analysis. Ten perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and 4 perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) were monitored in 7 kinds of leaves grown in the urban areas of Dalian, China. The results show that coniferous tree leaves take up more PFAAs than broad‐leaved tree leaves, with the highest amount of 150 ng/g in pine needles. Leaf PFCA levels were much higher than PFSAs level. Short carbon–chain PFCAs with 3 to 6 perfluorinated carbons account for approximately 40% to 80% of the total leaf PFAAs, where uptake decreased with increasing carbon chain length. Temporal observation of leaf PFAAs revealed no significant variation of concentrations in the leaves over a weekly interval and the absence of significant seasonal change in pine needles and sophora. The present study provides some evidence for the accumulation of PFAAs in leaves, which is valuable for understanding their environmental behavior and the development of alternative bioindicator. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1499–1504. © 2015 SETAC