Suspect and Nontarget Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Groundwater Underlying Different Land-Use Areas

Groundwater can be contaminated by PFAS emissions, yet
research
on the presence and associated risks of PFAS in groundwater underlying
different land-use areas remains limited. Herein, high-resolution
mass spectrometry-based suspect and nontarget analyses were performed
to determine PFAS occurrence in groundwater samples obtained from
a rural area, a planting region, and the vicinities of a pharmaceutical
park, an airport, and an industrial park in Datong City, China. A
total of 31 PFAS (16 emerging and 15 legacy PFAS) were identified,
and the ΣPFAS concentrations ranged from 0.775 (rural area)
to 80.7 ng/L (pharmaceutical park). In terms of the average concentration
of ΣPFAS, legacy PFAS were predominant in rural groundwater,
whereas emerging PFAS were predominant in the other four land-use
areas. PFOA, PFDA, PFUnDA, and 6:2 FTS were detected in all groundwater
samples. To further prioritize the risk of identified PFAS in groundwater,
the detection frequency; concentration; and persistence, bioaccumulation,
and toxicity attributes were adopted, which showed that high-risk
compounds varied across different land-use areas. Our results further
reveal the ubiquitous contamination of PFAS in groundwater environments,
even in areas with limited human activity, and highlight the necessity
of suspect and nontarget analysis for assessing PFAS exposure through
groundwater.