Spatial distribution and loading amounts of particle sorbed and dissolved perfluorinated compounds in the basin of Tokyo Bay Yasuyuki Zushi a,b,⇑ , Feng Ye b , Mamoru Motegi c , Kiyoshi Nojiri c , Shigeo Hosono c , Toshinari Suzuki d , Yuki Kosugi d , Kumiko Yaguchi d , Shigeki Masunaga b a National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan b Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan c Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan d Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Japan highlights " Thirty types of PFCs in suspended solid collected from Tokyo Bay basin were analyzed. " Relatively high levels of PFCs in SS were observed in urbanized areas. " More than 90% of the total PFCs reached Tokyo Bay in the dissolved phase. " However, 40–84% of the long chain PFCAs were transported as particle sorbed PFCs. article info Article history: Received 26 August 2011 Received in revised form 2 April 2012 Accepted 19 May 2012 Available online 12 June 2012 Keywords: PFCs PFOS Suspended solid Tokyo Bay basin Spatial distribution Geographic information abstract In this study, we analyzed over 30 types of PFCs, including precursors in both the dissolved phase and particle solid phase, in 50 samples of river water collected from throughout the Tokyo Bay basin. PFCs were detected in suspended solids (SSs) at levels ranging from <0.003–4.4 ng L À1 (0.11–2470 ng g À1 dry weight). The concentrations of PFCs in the SS were one to two order(s) of magnitude lower than those of PFCs in the dissolved phase. Relatively high levels of PFCs (total of 35 PFCs) in SS were observed in urbanized areas. The concentration of PFCAs, including PFOA and PFNA, were significantly correlated with the geographic index as artificial area (R 2 of the linear regression curve in a double logarithmic plot: 0.09– 0.55). Conversely, PFOS and FOSA were significantly correlated with the arterial traffic area (R 2 in a double logarithmic plot: 0.29–0.55). Those spatial trends were similar to the trends in dissolved PFCs. We estimated the loading amount of PFCs into Tokyo Bay from six main rivers and found that more than 90% of the total PFCs reached Tokyo Bay in the dissolved phase. However, 40.0–83.5% of the long chain PFCAs (C12–C15), were transported as particle sorbed PFCs. Rain runoff events might increase the loading amount of PFCs in SS. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that greater attention should be given to PFCs, especially for longer chain PFCs in SS in addition to dissolved PFCs. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been used in various applications including upholstery, fire-fighting materials, and emulsifying agents for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for more than 60 years owing to their unique physicochemical properties (Kodavanti et al., 2008; Zushi et al., 2011a). However, perfluorooc- tane sulfonate (PFOS), which is one of the PFCs listed in the Stockholm convention on POPs in May 2009 due to its persistency, bio-accumulative potential and toxicity. Recently, a number of studies on PFC pollution in aquatic environments have been conducted; however, most of these only reported the concentration of dissolved PFCs in the water column, and information regarding their partitioning between water and suspended solids is scarce. Some studies have reported the ratio of dissolved and particle sorbed PFCs in river water (Tanaka et al., 2008), seawater (Odaka and Masunaga, 2006) or sewage (Schultz et al., 2006). The results of these studies have demon- strated that PFOS, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and its short chain length homologues exist almost exclusively in the dissolved phase. The amount of PFCs in the particle solid phase is considered to be negligible; thus, environmental behavior, source contribution and ecological risks posed by PFCs in the water environment have pri- marily been considered based on dissolved phase PFCs. However, 0045-6535/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.05.038 ⇑ Corresponding author at: National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan. Tel.: +81 29 850 2914. E-mail address: zushi.yasuyuki@nies.go.jp (Y. Zushi). Chemosphere 88 (2012) 1353–1357 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere