Discovering New PFAS in Soil: What We Found and Why it Matters

Soils near an industrial park in Shandong Province, China, were found to contain 81 different perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This was done using a new approach that helps scientists find unknown compounds without needing to know their structure beforehand. Among these PFAS, 12 were iodine-substituted, a type never seen before in these soils. Four of these iodine-containing substances were made in the lab to confirm their structure and measure how much of them were present. While these iodine-substituted PFAS weren't as common as chlorine- or hydrogen-substituted ones, they were more harmful to zebrafish embryos. This shows that we need to pay more attention to these new PFAS and figure out why they're so toxic. The method used in this study can also help us understand how these new PFAS behave in the environment, but there's still more to learn about why they're so harmful.