Occurrence, spatial distribution, and sources of PFASs in the water and sediment from lakes in the Tibetan Plateau.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are omnipresent globally and received increasing attention recently. However, there are limited data on PFASs in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), a remote high-altitude mountain region, which is regard as an important indicator region to study long-range transport behaviors of contaminants. This study investigates the occurrence, distribution, partitioning behavior, and sources of 26 PFASs in water and sediments from the four lakes of TP. The ΣPFAS concentrations ranged from 338 to 9766 pg L-1 in water, and 12.2-414 pg g-1 dry weight in sediments. Perfluorobutanonic acid (PFBA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were detected in all samples. Qinghai Lake had the highest ΣPFAS concentrations in both water and sediments, while the Ranwu Lake had the lowest. The functional groups and CF2 moiety units were investigated as essential factors influencing the partition behavior. Principal component analysis (PCA) combined back-trajectory was used to infer possible sources of PFASs. The results suggested that the main source of PFASs in Yamdrok Lake, Namco Lake, and Ranwu Lake on southern TP were mainly originated from South Asia via long-range atmospheric transport (LRAT); while for the Qinghai Lake of northern TP, LRAT, local emissions, and tourism activities were the primary sources of PFASs.

Distribution of microplastics in benthic sediments of Qinghai Lake on the Tibetan Plateau, China.

Although several studies of microplastics (MPs) with size <5 mm in lake sediments focused on lakeshore areas, there have been no studies of distributions of MPs from lakeshores to the center of a lake. To test our hypothesis that MPs decrease from lakeshore to the center, a study was conducted on the largest brackish lake on the remote and high-altitude Tibetan Plateau, China. Abundances and characteristics of MPs in 14 samples of surface sediment collected from a river bay, a lake bay, and a lake central area were investigated. Distributions were influenced by river inflow, tourism, and minimal activity of humans, respectively around Qinghai Lake. The mean abundance of MPs in sediments of Qinghai Lake was 393 ± 457 items/kg, dry mass (dm). Based on the range of MP abundances in surface sediments of lakes worldwide, Qinghai Lake was classified as being moderately polluted with MPs. The dominant color, shape, size, and polymer type of MPs in sediments were transparent, fiber, 0.05-1 mm, and polypropylene, respectively. The river bay had a mean abundance of MPs two-fold greater than either the bay or central area of the lake. This indicates that the river catchment caused more pollution with MPs, while the central area of the lake was not a sink for MPs. Spatial trends of MPs in sediments from the shore to the center of the lake differed among areas, and were significantly related to wind, lake current, sedimentation rate, water- and sediment-properties, water depth, and proximity to land sources of MPs.