Fluorotelomer Carboxylic Acids and PFOS in Rainwater from an Urban Center in Canada

Loewen, Mark; Halldorson, Thor; Wang, Fei; Tomy, Gregg T.

doi:10.1021/es048635b

Cited by 117 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Therefore, the potential risks posed by these compounds to aquatic ecosystems cannot be adequately evaluated at the present time. However, based on currently available measured telomer acid concentrations in rain (17,18) and PFCA concentrations in surface water (5,6,8,9), it is reasonable to assume that telomer acids are likely present in surface waters in the ng/L range. Under this assumption, environmental concentrations are 3 orders of magnitude lower than the acute toxicity thresholds observed in the current study.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluorotelomer Acids are More Toxic than Perfluorinated Acids

Phillips

Dinglasan-Panlilio

Mabury

et al. 2007

Environ. Sci. Technol.

113

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Saturated and unsaturated fluorotelomer carboxylic acids have been identified as intermediates in the degradation of fluorotelomer alcohols to perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs). Although surface waters are the likely environmental sink for telomer acids, no fate or toxicity data exist for this matrix. We assessed the acute toxicity of the 4:2, 6:2, 8:2, and 10:2 saturated (FTCA) and unsaturated (FTUCA) fluorotelomer carboxylic acids to Daphnia magna, Chironomus tentans, and Lemna gibba. In general, toxicity increased with increasing fluorocarbon (FC) chain length, particularly for telomer acids of g8 FCs. In addition, the FTCAs were generally more toxic than the corresponding FTUCAs. Acute EC50s ranged from 0.025 mg/L (0.04 µmol/L) for D. magna (10:2 FTCA, immobility) to 63 mg/L (167 µmol/L) for C. tentans (6:2 FTCA, growth). While chain-length trends observed in the current study agree with those previously reported for PFCAs, the toxicity thresholds generated here are up to 10 000 times smaller. Our data provide the first evidence that PFCA precursors are more toxic than the PFCAs themselves.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluorotelomer Acids are More Toxic than Perfluorinated Acids

Phillips

Dinglasan-Panlilio

Mabury

et al. 2007

Environ. Sci. Technol.

113

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“…[1] Overall, most studies indicate that the oceanic transport of directly emitted PFCs is the dominant transport pathway to remote regions. [7,18] However, the presence of PFCAs and PFSAs in precipitation, [19] in water and fish from high mountain lakes [20,21] and in ice caps and snow [22] demonstrate that the atmospheric transport of PFCAs and PFSAs and their precursors is an important transport pathway to remote locations like the Arctic. More measurements of the PFCs in the Arctic region are required to better understand the transport pathway.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere

et al. 2011

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Environmental context. Perfluoroalkyl compounds are of rising environmental concern because of their ubiquitous distribution in remote regions like the Arctic. The present study quantifies these contaminants in the gas and particle phases of the Canadian Arctic atmosphere. The results demonstrate the important role played by gas-particle partitioning in the transport and fate of perfluoroalkyl compounds in the atmosphere.Abstract. Polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) were determined in high-volume air samples during a ship cruise onboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen crossing the Labrador Sea, Hudson Bay and the Beaufort Sea of the Canadian Arctic. Five PFC classes (i.e. perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs), polyfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs), fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), fluorinated sulfonamides (FOSAs), and sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs)) were analysed separately in the gas phase collected on PUF/XAD-2 sandwiches and in the particle phase on glass-fibre filters (GFFs). The method performance of sampling, extraction and instrumental analysis were compared between two research groups. The FTOHs were the dominant PFCs in the gas phase (20-138 pg m ). The PFCAs could only be quantified in the particle phase with low levels (,0.04-0.18 pg m À3 ). In the particle phase, the dominant PFC class was the FOSEs (0.3-8.6 pg m À3 ). The particle-associated fraction followed the general trend of: FOSEs (,25 %) . FOSAs (,9 %) . FTOHs (,1 %). Significant positive correlation between P FOSA concentrations in the gas phase and ambient air temperature indicate that cold Arctic surfaces, such as the sea-ice snowpack and surface seawater could be influencing FOSAs in the atmosphere.

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“…In recent years, PFCs especially perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanyl sulfonate (PFOS) have received much attention because they were ubiquitously detected in various environmental media [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and in the body of wildlife [12,13] and human beings [14][15][16][17]. Though their sources, fate and transport in the environment are not well understood, it has been known that they are directly released into the environment or indirectly formed [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ferric ion mediated photochemical decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by 254nm UV light

Wang

Zhang

Pan

et al. 2008

Journal of Hazardous Materials

150

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a b s t r a c tThe great enhancement of ferric ion on the photochemical decomposition of environmentally persistent perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) under 254 nm UV light was reported. In the presence of 10 M ferric ion, 47.3% of initial PFOA (48 M) was decomposed and the defluorination ratio reached 15.4% within 4 h reaction time. While the degradation and defluorination ratio greatly increased to 80.2% and 47.8%, respectively, when ferric ion concentration increased to 80 M, and the corresponding half-life was shortened to 103 min. Though the decomposition rate was significantly lowered under nitrogen atmosphere, PFOA was efficiently decomposed too. Other metal ions like Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ also slightly improved the photochemical decomposition of PFOA under irradiation of 254 nm UV light. Besides fluoride ion, other intermediates during PFOA decomposition including formic acid and five shorter-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) with C7, C6, C5, C4 and C3, respectively, were identified and quantified by IC or LC/MS. The mixture of PFOA and ferric ion had strong absorption around 280 nm. It is proposed that PFOA coordinates with ferric ion to form a complex, and its excitation by 254 nm UV light leads to the decomposition of PFOA in a stepwise way.

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Fluorotelomer Carboxylic Acids and PFOS in Rainwater from an Urban Center in Canada

Cited by 117 publications

References 16 publications

Fluorotelomer Acids are More Toxic than Perfluorinated Acids

Fluorotelomer Acids are More Toxic than Perfluorinated Acids

Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere

Ferric ion mediated photochemical decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by 254nm UV light

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