International Journal of Phytoremediation, 16:926–936, 2014 Copyright C  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1522-6514 print / 1549-7879 online DOI: 10.1080/15226514.2013.810574 SUSCEPTIBILITY OF RIPARIAN WETLAND PLANTS TO PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID (PFOA) ACCUMULATION J.B.N. Mudumbi, 1 S.K.O. Ntwampe, 2 M. Muganza, 1 and J.O. Okonkwo 3 1 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Environmental and Occupational Studies, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa 2 Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Agriculture and Food sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa 3 Faculty of Science, Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa As plants have been shown to accumulate organic compounds from contaminated sediments, there is a potential for long-lasting ecological impact as a result of contaminant accumu- lation in riparian areas of wetlands, particularly the accumulation of non-biodegradable contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). In this study, commonly found ri- parian wetland plants including reeds, i.e., Xanthium strumarium, Phragmites australis, Schoenoplectus corymbosus, Ruppia maritime; Populus canescens, Polygonum salici- folium, Cyperus congestus; Persicaria amphibian, Ficus carica, Artemisia schmidtiana, Eichhornia crassipes, were studied to determine their susceptibility to PFOA accumulation from PFOA contaminated riparian sediment with a known PFOA concentration, using liq- uid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The bioconcentration factor (BCF) indicated that the plants affinity to PFOA accumulation was; E. crassipes, > P. sali- cifolium, > C. congestus, > P. x canescens, > P. amphibian, > F. carica, > A. schmidtiana, > X. strumarium, > P. australis, > R. maritime, > S. corymbosus. The concentration of PFOA in the plants and/or reeds was in the range 11.7 to 38 ng/g, with a BCF range of 0.05 to 0.37. The highest BCF was observed in sediment for which its core water had a high salinity, total organic carbon and a pH which was near neutral. As the studied plants had a higher affinity for PFOA, the resultant effect is that riparian plants such as E. crassipes, X. strumarium, and P. salicifolium, typified by a fibrous rooting system, which grow closer to the water edge, exacerbate the accumulation of PFOA in riparian wetlands. KEY WORDS: Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorinated compounds, wetland plants, reed grass, biocon- centration factor (BCF) INTRODUCTION Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are one of several persistent organic pollutants (POPs) found in the environment as a result of pollution from anthropogenic activities Address correspondence to S.K.O. Ntwampe, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Department of Environmen- tal and Occupational Studies, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa. E-mail: Ntwampes@cput.ac.za. Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline/bijp. 926 Downloaded by [Cape Peninsula University of Technology], [Mr John mudumbi] at 21:55 27 January 2014