A QSAR–ICE–SSD Model Prediction of the PNECs for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Their Ecological Risks in an Area of Electroplating Factories
Jiawei Zhang,
Mengtao Zhang,
Huanyu Tao,
Guanjing Qi,
Wei Guo,
Hui Ge,
Jianghong Shi
Affiliations
Jiawei Zhang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Mengtao Zhang
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Huanyu Tao
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Guanjing Qi
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Wei Guo
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Hui Ge
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Jianghong Shi
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of highly fluorinated aliphatic compounds that are persistent and bioaccumulate, posing a potential threat to the aquatic environment. The electroplating industry is considered to be an important source of PFASs. Due to emerging PFASs and many alternatives, the acute toxicity data for PFASs and their alternatives are relatively limited. In this study, a QSAR–ICE–SSD composite model was constructed by combining quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), interspecies correlation estimation (ICE), and species sensitivity distribution (SSD) models in order to obtain the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) of selected PFASs. The PNECs for the selected PFASs ranged from 0.254 to 6.27 mg/L. The ΣPFAS concentrations ranged from 177 to 983 ng/L in a river close to an electroplating industry in Shenzhen. The ecological risks associated with PFASs in the river were below 2.97 × 10−4.
