Uptake and translocation of both legacy and emerging per-and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in hydroponic vegetables br

The extensive use of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) and their substitutes has resulted in their fre-quent detections in environmental matrices. However,limitedinformation is known abouttheir uptake into vegetablesand health risk through diet, particularly for those emerging alternatives. In this study, a total of 17 PFASs (namely 12legacy PFASs and 5 of their alternatives) were compared for their accumulation into four staple vegetables (lettuce,Chinese cabbage,chrysanthemum coronarium, and cucumber) in hydroponic system with single PFAS concentrationbeing 10 mu g/L, except for 8:2 chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonate (Cl-PFESA) as 0.5 mu g/L. The sum concentra-tions of 17 PFASs in edible parts were in the order of Chinese cabbage leaf (13,456 ng/g)>lettuce leaf (5996 ng/g)>cucumber fruit (4115 ng/g)>chrysanthemum coronariumstem (3999 ng/g). For perfluorooctanoate acid (PFOA) andits alternatives, hexafluoropropylene oxide trimer acid (HFPO-TA) preferentially accumulated in roots than PFOA withroot concentration factors being 35.7-99.9. Translocation to edible parts was more remarkable forhexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) compared with PFOA in lettuce and cucumber. Forperfluorooctanesulfonate acid (PFOS) and its alternatives, roots of all the four vegetables were found to more readilyaccumulate 8:2 Cl-PFESA than PFOS, but 8:2 Cl-PFESA was hardly translocated to the aerial parts. Significantly (p<0.05) higher edible concentrations of 8:2 and 6:2fluorotelomer sulfonic acids (FTSA) than that of PFOS were observed for cucumber