Occurrence, Source Inference, and Risk Assessment of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Effluents, River Water and Groundwater from the Lijiang River Basin, a Typical Karst Region

Research on the river-groundwater cross-contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in karst regions is limited. We therefore investigated the PFAS occurrence, spatial distribution, sources and ecological risks in the Lijiang River basin, a typical karst area. PFAS concentrations were relatively low (0.08–74.0 ng/L, mean 4.13 ng/L). PFBA, PFHxA, PFNA and 6:2 FTS were widely detected. Short-chain PFAS concentrations (0.08–74.0, mean 4.75 ng/L) were higher than long-chain ones (0.02–3.31, mean 0.72 ng/L). Unusually, groundwater PFAS concentrations (0.08–74.0, mean 7.97 ng/L) exceeded those in rivers (0.08–11.7, mean 2.31 ng/L). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) combined with spatial distribution identified five main sources: sewage treatment plants (24.0%), gas station leaks/wastewater discharges (21.3%), untreated domestic sewage (18.1%), small-scale industrial wastewater (16.7%), and agricultural/aquaculture wastewater (20.2%). The ecological risk assessment showed that, except for PFUnDA posing a low risk to algae, the other PFASs presented no significant risk to algae, daphnia or fish. The human health risk assessment indicated minimal direct health risks. Our findings indicate that some PFASs in groundwater and river water may share common sources, highlighting the complex PFAS migration between rivers and groundwater in karst regions.