Survey of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in surface waters of Poland

Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are wide-spread contaminants on a global scale. There is an increasingly growing number of data on environmental occurrence, sources and risk of PFCs to humans and aquatic biota in highly industrialised countries but inadequate information exists for less industrialised regions. In the present study, concentrations and profiles of PFCs were examined in surface waters (rivers, lakes, streams, coastal region of the Baltic Sea) of Poland. PFOS was the dominant compound found in water at most of the sites surveyed and its concentration varied between < 0.5 and 150 ng/L and next was PFHxS with < 0.25 to 110 ng/L, while at much smaller concentration of < 0.5 to 18 ng/L occurred PFOA. The long-chain carboxylates (C11-C16) could be found only in water of a drainage ditch near to the Sarzyna site, i.e., PFUnDA occurred at 0.17 ng/L, PFTeDA of 0.06 ng/L, PFDoDA at 0.1 ng/L and PFHxDA at 0.12 ng/L. PFDA was found at several locations in the Gulf of Gdansk and its concentration varied between < 0.01 and 0.07 ng/L. The profile of PFCs in surface water at several sites of Poland with PFOS as a major compound, followed by PFOA is similar to that reported for other countries in Europe as well as for India, while this is different from that of Korea, Japan and the USA, where PFOA was the predominant contaminant.