Occurrence of perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and carboxylates in German drinking water sources compared to other countries

Lange, Frank Thomas; Wenz, Michael; Schmidt, Carsten K.; Brauch, Heinz‐Jürgen

doi:10.2166/wst.2007.803

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The average concentrations of fluorochemicals in the Glatt River were higher than values reported in surface waters in Scandinavia (22) and northern Italy (10). PFBS was the most abundant fluorochemical found in the Rhine by two separate studies, Skutlarek et al (8) and Lange et al (25), which was not the case for the Glatt. PFNA, PFOA, PFHpA, and PFHxA concentrations measured at the mouth of the Rhine River were all higher than the concentrations in the Glatt River (11), which indicates that the Glatt River is but one source of fluorochemicals in the Rhine River.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Occurrence and Mass Flows of Fluorochemicals in the Glatt Valley Watershed, Switzerland

Huset

Chiaia

Barofsky

et al. 2008

Environ. Sci. Technol.

165

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Fluorochemicals are persistent contaminants that are globally distributed in air, water, sediments, and biota. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play an important role in mitigating pollutant releases from municipalities to aquatic and terrestrial environments. However, because WWTPs are point sources of fluorochemicals, it is important to understand their contribution to fluorochemical burdens in the greater context of watersheds. To this end, over a 1 week period, the mass flows of 11 fluorochemicals from seven WWTPs that discharge effluent into the Glatt River in Switzerland were measured and compared to the measured mass flows within the Glatt River. Overall, the fluorochemicals were not removed efficiently during wastewater treatment. Effluents from WWTPs and Glatt River water were dominated by perfluorooctane sulfonate, which was detected in all samples, followed by perfluorohexane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate. The mass flows of fluorochemicals emanating from WWTPs were found to be conserved within the 35 km Glatt River, which indicates that input from the WWTPs is additive and that removal within the Glatt River is not significant. Per capita discharges of fluorochemicals were calculated from the populations served by the WWTPs studied; the values determined also account for the fluorochemical content of Lake Greifen (Greifensee), which is a lake at the headwaters of the Glatt River that also receives treated wastewater.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Occurrence and Mass Flows of Fluorochemicals in the Glatt Valley Watershed, Switzerland

Huset

Chiaia

Barofsky

et al. 2008

Environ. Sci. Technol.

165

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“…In contrast, typical ranges in fluorochemical concentrations are 0.5 – 1,000 ng L −1 for municipal wastewaters (Schultz et al, 2006; Loganathan et al, 2007; Becker et al, 2008; Huset et al, 2008) and 0.1 – 150 ng L −1 for surface waters (Lange et al, 2007; McLachlan et al, 2007; Becker et al, 2008; Huset et al, 2008). Land-application of solid and liquid waste and point sources associated with fluorochemical manufacturing are thought to contribute to higher (1,200–34,000 ng L −1 ) surface water concentrations (Skutlarek et al, 2006; McLachlan et al, 2007; Konwick et al, 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Quantitative determination of fluorochemicals in municipal landfill leachates

et al. 2011

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Twenty four fluorochemicals were quantified in landfill leachates recovered from municipal refuse using an analytical method based on solid-phase extraction, dispersive-carbon sorbent cleanup, and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The method was applied to six landfill leachates from four locations in the U.S. with as well as to a leachate generated by a laboratory bioreactor containing residential refuse. All seven leachates had the common characteristic that short-chain (C4-C7) carboxylates or sulfonates were greater in abundance than their respective longer-chain homologs (≥C8). Perfluoroalkyl carboxylates were the most abundant (67 ± 4% on a nanomolar (nM) basis) fluorochemicals measured in leachates; concentrations of individual carboxylates reaching levels up to 2,800 ng L−1. Perfluoroalkyl sulfonates were the next most abundant class (22 ± 2%) on a nM basis; their abundances in each of the seven leachates derived from municipal refuse were greater for the shorter-chain homologs (C4 and C6) compared to longer-chain homologs (C8 and C10). Perfluorobutane sulfonate concentrations were as high as 2,300 ng/L. Sulfonamide derivatives composed 8 ± 2.1% (nM basis) of the fluorochemicals in landfill leachates with methyl (C4 and C8) and ethyl (C8) sulfonamide acetic acids being the most abundant. Fluorotelomer sulfonates (6:2 and 8:2) composed 2.4 ± 1.3% (nM basis) of the fluorochemicals detected and were present in all leachates.

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“…Initially, Saito et al (2004) reported PFOS concentrations in tap water from Japan to fall between 0.1 and 12.0 ng/L. Later studies (Lange et al, 2007;Ericson et al, 2009;Skutlarek et al, 2006;Tanaka et al, 2008) have reported higher concentrations however; up to 58 ng/L and 143 ng/L PFOS in tap water from Spain (Ericson et al, 2009) and Japan respectively. Overall, PFOS is one of the most frequently detected PFASs (together with PFOA) in drinking water, with detection frequencies varying between 40 and 100% in published papers.…”

Section: Drinking Watermentioning

confidence: 97%

Perfluorooctane sulfonate: A review of human exposure, biomonitoring and the environmental forensics utility of its chirality and isomer distribution

Miralles-Marco

Harrad

2015

Environment International

124

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Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) found extensive use for over 60 years up until its restriction in the early 2000s, culminating in its listing under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in 2009. Efforts to minimise human body burdens are hindered by uncertainty over their precise origins. While diet appears the principal source for the majority of western populations (with other pathways like dust ingestion, drinking water and inhalation also important contributors); the role played by exposure to PFOS-precursor compounds followed by in vivo metabolism to PFOS as the ultimate highly stable end-product is unclear. Such PFOS-precursor compounds include perfluorooctane sulfonamide derivates, e.g., perfluorooctane sulfonamides (FOSAs) and sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs). Understanding the indirect contribution of such precursors to human body burdens of PFOS is important as a significant contribution from this pathway would render the margin of safety between the current exposure limits and estimates of external exposure to PFOS alone, narrower than hitherto appreciated. Estimates derived from mathematical modelling studies, put the contribution of so-called "precursor exposure" at between 10% and 40% of total PFOS body burdens. However, there are substantial uncertainties associated with such approaches. This paper reviews current understanding of human exposure to PFOS, with particular reference to recent research highlighting the potential of environmental forensics approaches based on the relative abundance and chiral signatures of branched chain PFOS isomers to provide definitive insights into the role played by "precursor exposure".

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Occurrence of perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and carboxylates in German drinking water sources compared to other countries

Cited by 40 publications

References 25 publications

Occurrence and Mass Flows of Fluorochemicals in the Glatt Valley Watershed, Switzerland

Occurrence and Mass Flows of Fluorochemicals in the Glatt Valley Watershed, Switzerland

Quantitative determination of fluorochemicals in municipal landfill leachates

Perfluorooctane sulfonate: A review of human exposure, biomonitoring and the environmental forensics utility of its chirality and isomer distribution

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