Seasonal Variability and Atmospheric Drivers of Particle-Phase PFAS in PM_2.5 near a Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Facility in Nanchang, China.

Authors

Xiaolu Liu, Dandan Huang, Zehui Zhang, Li Zhang, Xuan Lin, Chunyu Yan, Meng Chen, Renting Nie, Bai Gao, Wenjie Ma, Yuanyuan Liu, Haiyang Zhang

Published in

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987). Pages 128660. Jun 27, 2026. Epub Jun 27, 2026.

Abstract

PER: and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent anthropogenic contaminants that are widely detected in the atmosphere; however, their presence in ambient PM_2.5 near municipal solid waste incineration facilities remains poorly characterized. This case study investigated particle-phase PFAS in ambient PM_2.5 close to a full-scale municipal solid waste incineration facility in Nanchang, China, using monthly fixed-site sampling and seasonal multi-site campaigns. Particle-bound PFAS were consistently detected, with ΣPFAS concentrations ranging from 106.7 to 940.5 pg m^-3 at the year-round fixed site. Conventional perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) were the predominant class, accounting for approximately 50.0% of annual ΣPFAS, followed by PFECAs (20.9%). Both ΣPFAS concentrations and compositional profiles showed distinct seasonal variations, with concentrations generally higher during cooler periods and lower during warmer periods. These patterns aligned with seasonal changes in atmospheric transport and dispersion conditions, indicating that the observed variability likely results from the combined effects of atmospheric processes and diverse PFAS sources. A preliminary inhalation assessment indicated that hazard index (HI) values were in the range of 10^-3-10^-2 for all age groups, which is well below the non-carcinogenic benchmark of HI = 1. Because no stack measurements or process-specific emission data were available, the results were interpreted as receptor-site observations of ambient PFAS variability rather than as a direct evaluation of facility-specific emissions or PFAS destruction efficiency during incineration. Overall, this study provides observational evidence of seasonal variability in particle-phase PFAS in PM_2.5 around a full-scale municipal solid waste incineration facility in Nanchang, China, emphasizing the role of atmospheric transport and seasonal patterns in determining their distribution.

PMID:
42364869
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Jun 2026.

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