Emerging poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in the aquatic environment: A review of current literature

PFASs in the Nordic environment

“…Improvement and lower costs of advanced mass spectrometric (MS) instruments such as quadrupole time-of-flight (qToF) and Orbitrap in combination with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) allows to apply high accuracy and high resolution chromatography in combination with high resolution MS (HRMS) for the unequivocal determination of PFASs in environmental samples (Wille et al, 2010). These techniques have also been applied for the quantitative identification of novel PFASs (Xiao, 2017, Liu et al, 2015, Yu et al, 2018, Newton et al, 2017, Fakouri Baygi et al, 2016, Strynar et al, 2015, Ruan and Jiang, 2017. However, data analysis and quality control of these advanced screening methods are usually very time consuming and quantification of new compounds might be uncertain if no suitable standards are available.…”

Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment

“…Using high-resolution spectrometers that have become widely available only over the past decade, Higgins, Field, Strynar and others think they have discovered almost 500 kinds of previously unrecorded PFASs in the environment 1,2 . "We're not revealing chemistry to the industry that they don't know about, " says Field.…”

Perfluoroalkyl Substance Assessment in Turin Metropolitan Area and Correlation with Potential Sources of Pollution According to the Water Safety Plan Risk Management Approach

“…The two primary commercial production processes to synthetize PFAS are the electrochemical fluorination and the telomerisation, but since 2002, only the telomerisation processes are still used. Generally, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) like perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides and fluorotelomer alcohols can be degraded naturally under aerobic conditions to perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs) [3] that have been detected in various environmental matrices, like water, soil and air as well as in food, animals and humans [4]. PFAS (PFCAs and PFSAs) represent a huge group of different molecules with unique physicochemical properties, such as extreme hydrophilic and lipophilic character; thermal and chemical stability, making them valuable components for many industrial; and commercial applications.…”

“…PFAS (PFCAs and PFSAs) represent a huge group of different molecules with unique physicochemical properties, such as extreme hydrophilic and lipophilic character; thermal and chemical stability, making them valuable components for many industrial; and commercial applications. Their key characteristic of having one of the strongest chemical bonds (C-F) in their carbon chain makes them very stable, and they cannot degrade naturally or under heat, acids and oxidation [4,5]. PFASs are, therefore, perfect ingredients for many products with stain-resistant, waterproof or nonstick properties.…”