Sources and fate of perfluoroalkyl substances in the environment

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a type of widely concerned emerging contaminants with environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity, which has drawn increasing attention and become a hotspot in environmental science. Research group led by Prof. Sun at Nankai University, has been working on the environmental behaviour of PFAS over 15 years. Here, professor Sun will talk on the source and fate of PFAS in the environment, mainly concentrating on: 1) identification of unknown PFAS by TOP assay and non-target analysis; 2) the release of PFAS from WWTP, landfill, and industrial point sources; 3) regional occurrence and phase distribution; 4) biodegradation of PFAS precursors; 5) plant absorption and biotransformation.

Dr. Hongwen SUN is a professor at College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China. She acquired her Ph D at Nankai University in 1994 and has been working there till now. She has been to Osaka University, Japan and Swiss Federal Institute of Water Technology (Eawag), Switzerland as visiting scholar. She has two research fields: 1) source, fate, and human exposure of emerging organic contaminants including perfluoroalkyl substances, plasticizers and fire retardants etc; 2) remediation materials (like biochar and Fe-C composite) and technology for polluted soil. She is currently Advisory Board Member for Environmental Science & Technology, associate editor for Environmental Science and Pollution Research and Environmental Geochemistry and Health, and editor for several other journals in English or Chinese. She is executive member of Chinese Society of Soil Science and vice chairmen of Committee of Pollution Control of Emerging Contaminants, and members of several other scholar associations.