The contribution of fluoropolymer thermolysis to trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in environmental media

Research and Regulatory Advancements on Remediation and Degradation of Fluorinated Polymer Compounds

“…The rising concern over perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) has led to models being developed to understand how PFOA, PFOS, and similar compounds undergo thermal and environmental degradation [32]. Various studies have also been performed to assess the combustion of fluoropolymers and their potential to degrade in the environment to various, smaller PFAS compounds that are considered persistent organic pollutants (POPs) [2,6,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. While PFOS and PFOA are non-polymers and were previously used in AFFF, fluoropolymers also have an important use in the plastics and coatings industry.…”

“…Research concerning potential precursors of toxic PFAS since this announcement has grown substantially as studies have been completed on commercial products treated with fluorinated polymers such as fabrics, non-stick cookware, and microwave popcorn bags [33,89]. Studies have also been completed on the incineration or combustion of common fluorinated compounds to determine degradation products [2,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]86,90]. Tsang et al, determined the unimolecular reaction rates to show that CF 4 molecules require 1440 • C for greater than 1 s to achieve 99.99% destruction [91].…”

“…Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) encompass a group of several thousand compounds of different carbon chain lengths, a varying number of fluorine atoms, and different functional groups [1]. Over recent decades, fluorinated compounds of innumerable classifications have become ever more prevalent in both scope of use and emerging as environmental hazards [2][3][4][5]. PFAS compounds are desirable in many applications because of the carbon-fluorine (C-F) bond which yields a high degree of thermal stability [6] and various other advantageous physical properties that lend their use in a variety of common commercial products from waterproof clothing, fire resistant materials, stain resistant carpets, and long-lasting rubber components [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

Photoreductive defluorination of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the aqueous phase by hydrated electrons

“…Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), especially perfluorocarboxylic acids (C n F 2n+1 COO − , PFCAs) and perfluorosulfonic acids (C n F 2n+1 SO 3 -, PFSAs), have attracted global attention due to their widespread application, environmental persistence and bioaccumulation [1]. Trifluoroacetic acid (CF 3 COOH, TFA), an ultrashort-chain PFCA, is of great concern because it has been widely detected in the global aquatic environment at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 40,900 ng/L [2,3], and continuously accumulates [4][5][6] due to its high aqueous solubility (>1.0×10 4 g/L) and persistence in rain and natural waters [7,8]. Additionally, TFA is also one of the main decomposition products of fluorocarbon substitutes that have been used for over 30 years (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)) [9].…”

“…In water collected from rock shelters equipped with sprinkler systems for fire protection at firefighting training sites (FFTSs), the concentration of TFA was up to 14,000 ng/L; thus, such water bodies have become one of the main sources of TFA [11]. In addition, in the production of fluorochemicals, fluoropolymers decompose at high temperature to produce TFA precursors (e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene), leading to the further generation of TFA [3,8]. The extensive sources of TFA indicate that it has become one of the main PFASs present in aquatic environments.…”