Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Riverside, California » Agricultural Water Efficiency and Salinity Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #427992
Research Project: Understanding and Improving Salinity Tolerance in Specialty Crops

Location: Agricultural Water Efficiency and Salinity Research Unit

Title: Absorption and tissue accumulation of poly/perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) by Artemisia annua irrigated with waters spiked with six PFAS and their concentration in artemisia medicinal tea.

Author
item Ferreira, Jorge
item Ashworth, Daniel
item VAGNER, BENEDITO - University Of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Although not approved by the WHO for the treatments or prevention of malaria, Artemisia annua tea continues to be widely consumed in Africa and Asia. The tea is very low in artemisinin but rich in flavonoids that may be beneficial for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities. However, because rivers, groundwater, and municipal waters used to irrigate Artemisia crops are not completely free of contaminants, Artemisia tea may contain compounds, previously absorbed by the plant, that may be detrimental to the health of consumers. One such class of compounds are the per/poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are currently found worldwide in water and soils and are absorbed by plants, but their concentration and distribution have never been studied in Artemisia annua. This research was aimed at determining the absorption, accumulation, and distribution of six PFAS compounds (PFHxS, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS, PFBA, and PFBS) in three genotypes of A. annua. Greenhouse-grown plants were irrigated with waters containing no PFAS or spiked with PFAS compounds at 10 and 100 ppb for 48 days. Plants were harvested, separated into leaves, stems, and roots and oven dried. Samples were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS to determine the accumulation and distribution of PFAS compounds in roots, stems, and leaves. Oven-dry leaf samples were used to make Artemisia tea according to an international protocol. The tea was analyzed for the six PFAS used in this experiment. Results will be useful to worldwide artemisia farmers and tea consumers and highlight the health implications associated with the quality of the water used to irrigate artemisia and other medicinal plants.