China's PFOS and PFOA emissions drop sharply, but hotspots persist
· newswise.com · popularity 20/100 · 0 similar stories today · Earth Science & Climate (Science)
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Summary
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are persistent organic pollutants regulated under the Stockholm Convention. However, consecutive annual changes in PFOS and PFOA emissions across the Chinese mainland, their distribution among environmental media, and their spatial variation have not yet been systematically quantified. A new study develops a bottom-up, consecutive 0.1 deg. × 0.1 deg. inventory tracking PFOS and PFOA releases to air, water and soil across China from 2016 to 2021. The work quantifies sharp national declines alongside persistent localized hotspots and identifies a structural shift in emission sources from dispersed pesticide and industrial uses toward concentrated firefighting and manufacturing sites. It provides a spatially and temporally resolved basis for understanding multimedia release patterns and priority control areas.
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