Different biotransformation behaviors of perfluorooctane sulfonamide in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from earthworms (Eisenia fetida).

Perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA) is a precursor of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and can be broken down to PFOS in environment and biota. In the present work, PFOSA was spiked in soil and its biodegradation in soil, uptake and metabolism in wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and earthworms ( Eisenia fetida ) were investigated. The results indicated that PFOSA could be biodegraded to highly stable PFOS, which has the same perfluorinated carbon chain length as PFOSA, by microbes in soil. PFOSA could be taken up by wheat root and earthworm from soil with higher bioaccumulation ability than PFOS. In both wheat and earthworms, PFOSA also degraded to PFOS. However, other shorter-chain perfluoroalkane sulfonates (PFSAs), including perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), were observed in wheat, but not in soil and earthworms, suggesting that wheat displayed distinctly different degradation mechanisms to PFOSA from soil microbes and earthworms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]