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Surface waters from five districts in the inner city of Beijing were collected for analysis of 43 target compounds of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) to understand the spatial distribution patterns of different groups of PPCPs in the central urban area of a metropolitan city characterized by many hospitals and public parks. The total concentrations of PPCPs showed large spatial variability, ranging from 71.1 to 2400 ng/L. The x-ray contrast medium iopromide was the compound with the highest concentrations. Pharmaceuticals showed similar spatial distributional patterns with large hospitals. Positive correlations between iopromide and pharmaceuticals were observed. In contrast, in general there is no correlation between iopromide and personal care products. The concentrations of PPCPs in the landscape waters were not high but were characterized by high proportions of acidic, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with low or even negative removal efficiencies in the WWTP in Beijing, suggesting that the reclaimed water irrigation can be another source of PPCPs in surface waters in the inner city of Beijing.

High levels of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were observed in rural areas near a fluorochemical industrial park (FCIP) in the Yangtze River Delta region. The concentrations of total PFAS (∑PFASs) in soil, surface water, groundwater, and rainwater were in the range of 0.6-64.6 ng/g dry weight, 15.6-480.9, 4.8-614.6, and 13.4-542.2 ng/L, respectively. PFASs in rainwater and groundwater were higher than in surface water. The influence of the FCIP on rural soils extended to a distance of approximately 4 km based on the changes in PFAS compositions. The impact on surface water is mainly through direct river flow connected with contaminated sources, which may extend farther than 7 km in the case of unrestricted flow but much shorter distance for unconnected rivers. The penetration of PFASs in groundwater aquifers can extend as far as ca. 6 km, while direct water flow is the main transport route for PFASs. The influence radius of the FCIP can be as far as 60 km due to atmospheric precipitation.

Little research on perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) has been conducted in rural areas, although rural PFC sources are less complicated than in urban and industrial areas. To determine the levels and geographical distribution of 17 PFC compounds, samples of soil, surface water, and groundwater were collected from eight rural areas in eastern China. The total PFC concentrations (∑PFCs) in soils ranged from 0.34 to 65.8 ng/g ∑PFCs in surface waters ranged from 7.0 to 489 ng/L and ∑PFCs in groundwater ranged from 5.3 to 615 ng/L. Ratios of perfluorononanoic acid/perfluorooctanoic acid (PFNA/PFOA), perfluoro-n-butyric acid/perfluorooctanoic acid (PFBA/PFOA), and perfluoroheptanoic acid/perfluorooctanoic acid (PFHpA/PFOA) in rainwater increased due to the fluorine chemical plants in the surrounding rural and urban areas, suggesting that atmospheric precipitation may carry PFCs and their precursors from the fluorochemical industrial area to the adjacent rural areas.

To investigate the concentration and congener patterns of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in outdoor air from farmland area, air samples were collected using passive and active sample methods from April to November 2012, in an e-waste dismantling town in the Guangzhou region of South China. The sum of gaseous and particulate PBDE concentrations averaged 74.26 pg/m3 and ranged between 3.24 and 247.30 pg/m3, while the mean gaseous and particulate PBDEs were 19.20 and 55.07 pg/m3, respectively. The PBDE level was comparable to those in urban air of non-electric waste areas, but much lower than those in both indoor and outdoor air of e-waste dismantling workshop area. Dominant congeners were BDE-47 and BDE-28 for the gaseous phase and BDE-209 and BDE-99 for the particulate phase. Relationship analysis showed that soil PBDEs were more significantly correlated with passive samples than with active samples, indicating that passive sample pattern could capture the accumulative effect of the sampling period and better represent the extent of soil contamination.

Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are widely used as multi-purpose surfactants or water/oil repellents. In order to understand the contamination level and compositional profiles of PFAAs in aqueous environment in textile, leather, and paper making industrial areas, surface waters and tap waters were collected along the watershed of the Qiantang River where China's largest textile, leather, and paper making industrial bases are located. For comparison, surface water and tapwater samples were also collected in Hangzhou and its adjacent areas. 17 PFAAs were analyzed by solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results show that the total concentrations of PFAAs (ΣPFAAs) in the Qiantang River waters ranged from 106.1 to 322.9 ng/L, averaging 164.2 ng/L. The contamination levels have been found to be extremely high, comparable to the levels of the most serious PFAA contamination in surface waters of China. The PFAA composition profiles were characterized by the dominant PFOA (average 58.1% of the total PFAAs), and PFHxA (average 18.8%). The ΣPFAAs in tap water ranged from 9.5 to 174.8 ng/L, showing PFAA compositional pattern similar to the surface waters. Good correlations between PFAA composition profiles in tap waters and the surface waters were observed.

The contamination status of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were investigated in 64 tapwater samples collected from 17 cities and 45 surface water samples from adjacent areas in the eastern China. The total PFAS concentrations in tapwater ranged from 1.4 to 175 ng/L; relatively higher PFAS levels were observed in samples collected from the Yangtze River Delta region, which was similar to the geographical distribution pattern of PFAS levels observed in rivers and lakes. The highest total PFASs in tapwater was found in Changshu, where several fluorine-related industries are located, whereas the lowest was observed in Beijing. Significant positive correlations between PFAS compositions in tap water sample and their source waters were noted. Several industries such as paper, textile, and leather industries may contribute to the contamination of PFASs in tapwater.

A high-volume air sampler and a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer have been used to measure the activity of 7Be in near-surface atmospheric aerosols at sampling frequency of 3 days week for 1 year from August 2009 to July 2010 at Beijing in the mid-latitude region of East Asia monsoon. The measurements indicate that the average concentration of 7Be was 8.39 ± 0.49 mBq m−3, which was significantly higher than values reported for other cities in the East Asia monsoon region and in the world during the same period. The maximum and minimum of the weekly means of 7Be concentration were observed in September and May, respectively. The 7Be concentrations varied in accordance with the monsoon phases. Low but frequent wet precipitation may have caused lower 7Be observed in July when southeasterly was prevailing. Higher seasonal mean of 7Be concentrations in autumn could be attributed to the abnormal atmospheric circulation in autumn 2009.

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the paddy root-soil system were determined to study the dynamic and the influencing factors during crop rotation period. It showed that the dynamic of PAHs in paddy roots was most correlative with the factor of root surface area, but less correlated with PAHs in air and particles, which indicates that the physiological characters rather than the environment media are the main factors influencing the PAHs accumulation in paddy roots. According to the EPA risk standard about BaP and sigma PAHs, the PAHs accumulation in the paddy seeds won't decrease the food security to human being. The PAHs concentrations in paddy soil showed a declined trend during the period of paddy growth, which was affected not only by the processes of water elution and microbe degradation, but also depended on the absorption rate of paddy roots. When the crop rotation begins and paddy planting rolls into the next growing period, the PAHs in the paddy soil will again increase into a higher level which is correlated with the TOC content in the soil.

Leaves of 6 plants were collected from two sites on and around Peking University campus in summer season of 2003. PAHs in the leaf-wax and tissues were determined simultaneously with leaf-wax content, tissue lipid, specific surface, and stomata density. The results were compared to investigate the possible sources of PAHs in the leaves. For both leaf-wax and tissue samples, levels of PAHs depended on plant species and were lower in the samples from campus than those from outside of campus in short distance to busy traffic, suggesting a significant influence of vehicle emission. The concentrations of PAHs in leaf-wax were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than those in leaf tissues. While the PAH profiles in the leaf-wax and leaf tissues were similar in general, the relative contents of volatile compounds were higher in the tissues than in the wax. Negative correlations were identified between PAHs concentration in the leaf-wax and the wax content and between the tissue PAH content and stomata density.

A five-step sequential elution procedure with or without supersonic effect was tested for extraction of foliar dust from leaves of Euonymus japonicus collected at two locations of Beijing urban area. The samples were collected from either roadside or campus far away from any motor traffic. The foliar dust was characterized for size distribution, organic carbon content, and PAHs content. It was found that majority of the foliar dust can be eluted in 4 min by distill water under supersonic effect at room temperature without shaking. The amount of foliar dust on the sample from roadside was almost twice as much as those from campus, while the particle size of the former was relatively large. Large amount of coarse particles came from disturbance of motor vehicles. Slightly high concentrations of PAH species were detected in the sample from campus compared to those in the samples collected from roadside.