The Occurrence, Distribution, and Risks of Pfas at Sites Impacted by Firefighting Foams

Reinikainen, Jussi; Perkola, Noora; Äystö, Lauri; Sorvari, Jaana

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3998994

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…As a downside, the widespread use and chemical persistence has led to the ubiquitous presence of PFASs in the environment, wildlife, and humans (Abunada et al, 2020). In addition to their persistence (Wang et al, 2014), many of the PFASs are toxic (Henning and Fuchsman, 2021) bioaccumulative (Haukås et al, 2007), water-soluble (3M, 2001;Zhao et al, 2016), and readily transportable in the environment (Reinikainen et al, 2019). Since the toxicity of PFASs is highly related to the length of the carbon backbone (Latala et al, 2009), efforts towards using less-toxic short-chained PFASs have been made by regulations (USEPA, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Ecotoxicological Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorohexanoic Acid (PFHxA) on Freshwater Microbial Community

Laine

Vesamäki

Puupponen

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The ubiquitous presence of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) around the globe has attracted increasing attention, due to their persistency, bioaccumulation, and toxicity. Nevertheless, the ecotoxicological effects of the compounds on aquatic microorganisms has remained understudied. Hence, the present study focused on determining, and comparing, the effects of regulated long-chain PFCA, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and nonregulated short-chain PFCA, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), on the diversity, structure, microbial growth, and activity of a freshwater microbial community. In the experiment, lake water was incubated for a period of four weeks at three different concentrations of the studied PFCAs: 100 ng/L, 100 μg/L, and 10 mg/L. The results suggested that both compounds at high concentration (10 mg/L) altered the structure of the microbial community, but the diversity was not affected. Both compounds also decreased the microbial biovolume at higher concentrations and the increasing dose added to the significance of the impact, whereas inhibition of net microbial respiration could not be demonstrated. PFOA showed more potent toxicity towards the microbial community as it caused more significant structural changes to the community and significantly inhibited microbial growth even at the low 100 ng/L concentration. This study helps to better understand the ecotoxicity of PFCAs and to assess the environmental risks associated with their use. Additionally, these results can help policy makers to better assess the environmental risks posed by short-chain PFCAs on aquatic ecosystems.

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