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Effect of soil organic matter on the plant uptake of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulphonic acid (PFOS) in lettuce on granular activated carbon-applied soil

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Abstract

The presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulphonic acid (PFOS) in crops is an important consideration for food safety. The soil organic matter (SOM) content may affect the adsorption potential of PFOA and PFOS in water and soil and their subsequent uptake in crops. To better understand these dynamics, the adsorption and uptake of PFOA and PFOS in lettuce were investigated using granular activated carbon (GAC)-treated soils with varying SOM content. The adsorption potential of GAC was investigated, with maximum adsorption capacities for PFOA and PFOS calculated to be 9.091 mg g−1 and 27.778 mg g−1, respectively. These values decreased to 5.208 mg g−1 and 17.241 mg g−1, respectively, after the addition of 0.04 wt% humic acid. The average plant uptake factor (PUF) in low and high perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA)-contaminated soils with 4.0 wt% SOM was restricted to 0.353 for PFOA and 0.108 for PFOS. The PUFs were approximately two times lower than those for soil with 2.6 wt% SOM. Addition of 1 wt% GAC to the soil successfully reduced the PUF by up to 99.4%, with values of 0.006 (PFOA) and 0.005 (PFOS) in 2.6 wt% SOM-treated soil and 0.079 (PFOA) and 0.023 (PFOS) in 4.0 wt% SOM-treated soil. Although the PUF in the GAC-treated soil was drastically decreased, the PUF of the soil with 4.0 wt% SOM was at least four times higher than that with 2.6 wt% SOM. Therefore, SOM content is an important consideration in the remediation of PFOA- and PFOS-contaminated farmland soil using carbonaceous adsorbent.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from "Research Program for Agricultural Science & Technology Development," National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration (PJ01332102), and from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2019R1A4A1029125), Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Institutes of Agriculture and Life Science (IALS), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Deuk-Yeong Lee, Kyeong-Yeol Oh, Dong-Cheol Seo & Jin-Hyo Kim

  2. Chemical Safety Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Wanju, 55365, Republic of Korea

    Geun-Hyoung Choi

  3. Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15GD, UK

    David Megson

  4. Water Environmental Engineering Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Environmental Research Complex, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea

    Ik-Won Choi

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  1. Deuk-Yeong Lee
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Contributions

D-YL performed the experiments and data collection; G-HC analysed the PFAAs in crop; I-WC, K-YO, and D-CS analysed the data for the adsorbent; DM discussed the results; and J-HK wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jin-Hyo Kim.

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Lee, DY., Choi, GH., Megson, D. et al. Effect of soil organic matter on the plant uptake of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulphonic acid (PFOS) in lettuce on granular activated carbon-applied soil. Environ Geochem Health 43, 2193–2202 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00793-y

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