Current progress in the environmental analysis of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Androulakakis, Andreas; Alygizakis, Nikiforos; Τhomaidis, Νikolaos S.

doi:10.1039/d2va00147k

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Limited toxicological data are available for replacement PFASs especially for apex predators and humans, but studies on rats, mice, and fish have started to demonstrate that a number of compounds have the potential to cause toxic effects. ,,, Further research is needed on toxicity as well as their potential to bioaccumulate and biomagnify, and thus, the risk to apex predators and humans. As chemical companies continue to innovate, industry confidentiality and the time needed to develop analytical methods mean research and regulatory risk assessment inevitably lag behind production. , One of the biggest challenges in targeted PFAS analysis is the lack of reference standards, and this risks regrettable substitutions. , Increased collaboration between industry, research, and regulation is urgently needed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 The resulting global contamination of PFOS was first demonstrated in 2001, 5 and since then, numerous studies have shown the ubiquitous presence of PFASs in abiotic and biotic samples in all areas of the world. 6,7 As knowledge of the persistence, bioaccumulative potential and toxicity of long-chain PFAAs became clear, large manufacturers started phasing out production from the year 2000, 8,9 and national and international restrictions have been introduced. 10,11 PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS have been declared as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Stockholm Convention in 2009, 2019, and 2022, respectively.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although advantageous for their uses, the stability of PFASs results in compounds which are not readily degraded in the environment . The resulting global contamination of PFOS was first demonstrated in 2001, and since then, numerous studies have shown the ubiquitous presence of PFASs in abiotic and biotic samples in all areas of the world. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Persistence of PFOA Pollution at a PTFE Production Site and Occurrence of Replacement PFASs in English Freshwaters Revealed by Sentinel Species, the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)

O’Rourke,

Losada,

Barber

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Concentrations of 33 PFASs were determined in 20 Eurasian otters, sampled 2015−2019, along a transect away from a factory, which used PFOA in PTFE manufacture. Despite cessation of usage in 2012, PFOA concentrations remained high near the factory (>298 μg/kg ww <20 km from factory) and declined with increasing distance (<57 μg/kg ww >150 km away). Long-chain legacy PFASs dominated the Σ 33 PFAS profile, particularly PFOS, PFOA, PFDA, and PFNA. Replacement compounds, PFECHS, F-53B, PFBSA, PFBS, PFHpA, and 8:2 FTS, were detected in ≥19 otters, this being the first report of PFBSA and PFECHS in the species. Concentrations of replacement PFASs were generally lower than legacy compounds (max: 70.3 μg/kg ww and 4,640 μg/ kg ww, respectively). Our study underscores the utility of otters as sentinels for evaluating mitigation success and highlights the value of continued monitoring to provide insights into the longevity of spatial associations with historic sources. Lower concentrations of replacement, than legacy, PFASs likely reflect their lower bioaccumulation potential, and more recent introduction. Continued PFAS use will inevitably lead to increased environmental and human exposure if not controlled. Further research is needed on fate, toxicity, and bioaccumulation of replacement compounds.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Persistence of PFOA Pollution at a PTFE Production Site and Occurrence of Replacement PFASs in English Freshwaters Revealed by Sentinel Species, the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)

O’Rourke,

Losada,

Barber

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…However, 435 of these could only be tentatively identified, due to the lack of corresponding analytical standards. Although this number is expected to increase over the years, with <80 reference standards available in 2022 (Androulakakis et al, 2022), the number of commercially available reference standards expressed as a percentage of the known PFAS is still below 1.5%. Hence, the first step in enlarging the set of PFAS that can be analyzed would require further standardization of protocols, in combination with the extension of the number of available analytical standards, to increase the efficiency and reliability of suspect and nontarget screening methods.…”

Section: Which Pfas Are Detected In the Environment?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Research Priorities for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Per‐ and Polyfluorinated Substances

Gkika,

Xie,

van Gestel

et al. 2023

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Per‐ and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands ubiquitously applied persistent industrial chemicals. The field of PFAS environmental research is developing rapidly, but suffers from substantial biases towards specific compounds, environmental compartments, and organisms. The aim of this perspective was therefore to highlight current developments, and to identify knowledge gaps and subsequent research needs that would contribute to a comprehensive environmental risk assessment for PFAS. To this end, we consulted the open literature and databases, revealing that knowledge of the environmental fate of PFAS is based on the analysis of less than 1% of the compounds categorized as PFAS. Moreover, soils and suspended particulate matter (SPM) remain largely understudied. PFAS bioavailability, bioaccumulation and food web transfer studies also focus on a very limited number of compounds and are biased towards aquatic biota. Fish are predominantly studied, while aquatic invertebrates and macrophytes are included less frequently. The available ecotoxicity data revealed that only a few PFAS have been well‐studied for their environmental hazards, and that PFAS ecotoxicity data are strongly biased towards aquatic organisms as well. This emphasizes the need to catch up with ecotoxicity studies in the terrestrial environment. Considering the persistency and bioaccumulation of PFAS, more chronic, multigeneration and community ecotoxicity studies are needed. Finally, we identified the urgent need to unravel the relationship between sorption, bioaccumulation and ecotoxicity on the one hand and molecular descriptors of PFAS chemical structures and physicochemical properties on the other, to enable prediction of exposure, bioaccumulation and toxicity.

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Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry in Environmental Analysis

Mattarozzi

Careri

2023

Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry

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Liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) has expanded the analytical framework for the analysis of polar organic contaminants in complex matrices primarily through advances in high‐resolution mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, evolving repository databases, and data mining software. Over the last 10 years, the analytical trends toward a comprehensive characterization of emerging environmental contaminants along with their degradation and transformation products have driven the move from target analysis of few tens of compounds to wide‐scope target screening, as well as the development of strategies aimed at suspect screening of ‘known unknowns’ and the more challenging nontarget analysis for the identification of ‘unknown unknowns’. In this context, there is also an urgent need to give objective and unambiguous evidence of the confidence level of identification from a large list of tentatively identified substances, as well as to automate the evaluation process toward a more reproducible and harmonized approach. This article represents a third edition of a previous manuscript by Mattarozzi and Careri, (1) which was updated to take into account the huge progress in MS instrumentation and related methodologies and also advances in environmental analytical chemistry. In this article, among the environmental applications of LC‐MS, current and innovative approaches for the analysis of selected classes of emerging pollutants, such as micro‐ and nanoplastics, per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances, and transformation products in environmental samples are discussed, attempting to have a global coverage on the most recent research studies regarding the development of methodologies for the contaminants of high concern for the environment.

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Current progress in the environmental analysis of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Abstract: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). They are widely used in industrial and consumer applications and are known for their persistence, long-distance migration...

Cited by 7 publications

References 110 publications

Persistence of PFOA Pollution at a PTFE Production Site and Occurrence of Replacement PFASs in English Freshwaters Revealed by Sentinel Species, the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)

Persistence of PFOA Pollution at a PTFE Production Site and Occurrence of Replacement PFASs in English Freshwaters Revealed by Sentinel Species, the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)

Research Priorities for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Per‐ and Polyfluorinated Substances

Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry in Environmental Analysis

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