Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) have been widely used in surfactant applications, especially as processing acids for fluoropolymer production. This study provides an analysis of sources of certain PFAAs emitted from the intensive fluoropolymer facilities in the Xiaoqing River Basin of China. Concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as great as 0.97 mg/L in surface water and 10.5 mu g/g dry weight in surface sediment have been detected near the effluent of one facility (F1) that produces polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and other fluoropolymers with massive capacity. With the great emission of PFAAs to water in natural conditions, the log K-OC values decreased for short-chain PFCAs. Mass loads of PFAAs indicated that emissions of PFAAs from other facilities or sources were much less than those from F1, which emitted 1741 kg/d of PFAAs including 1591 kg/d of PFOA to the rivers. Even though production and emissions of PFOA have been strictly controlled in other countries since 2006, production of PFOA as well as several other fluoropolymers that use PFOA as processing aids has been increasing at Fl in recent years. We recommended that production shift should be taken into consideration in PFOA elimination actions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.