Fig. 2: Assessment of bioaccumulation factors of PFAS in plants.
a Concentration factors in the root (RCF), stem (SCF), and leaf (LCF), and the translocation factors (TF) of the sampled plants for ∑82PFAS and 27 individual PFAS with substantial concentrations in the soil. The structures of PFAS are provided. KP, MG, CO, ZS, OR, AC, SC, EA, refer to K. paniculate, M. glyptostroboides, C. officinarum, Z. schneideriana, O. rosea, A. calamus, S. canadensis, and E. annuus, respectively. b SEM-EDS images of root and stem cross sections from the four herbaceous plants sampled in the field after incubation in a 200 μg/mL PFOA nutrient solution. The bright blue spots represent signals of fluorine (F). The experimental results obtained by SEM-EDS were repeated at least twice with independent biological samples. c The two-sided Pearson correlation (no adjustments) between log RCF, log SCF, log LCF, and log TF of O. rosea with the octanol-water partition coefficients (log Kow) for the 15 PFAS with available data; the solid line in the first panel serves as visual guides; the error bands in the second, third, and fourth panels represent the 95% confidence level around the mean value of biological replicates (n = 3, dashed lines); and the correlation coefficient (r) and the corresponding significance levels are shown: log SCF (p = 1.50 × 10−5), log LCF (p = 6.66 × 10−8), and log TF (p = 1.17 × 10−10). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
