Untargeted Screening of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Airborne Particulate of Three Italian E-Waste Recycling Facilities

Abstract

Poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used in the electrical and electronic appliance industry to the point that waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also known as e-waste, creates significant potential for PFAS exposure (by inhalation, ingestion, or dermal exposure) for people handling and recycling e-waste. The aim of this work was the development of an untargeted analytical approach in order to detect the presence of possible unknown PFASs in particulate matter collected in three Italian e-waste facilities through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS/MS) in negative ionization mode. By means of three acquisition experiments, nine compounds were detected as candidate PFASs, and three were definitively confirmed by comparison with their authentic standards. Among these, bistriflimide (bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide), an ionic liquid with several promising technological applications, was the most abundant compound detected in all three recycling plants. This is the first study associating the presence of fluorinated ionic liquids with e-waste, and as these chemicals are not only toxic and persistent but also highly mobile, our results indicate the need to include them in future PFAS research. Only further data on their actual environmental diffusion will determine whether they are emerging pollutants or not.

Non-Targeted PFAS Suspect Screening and Quantification of Drinking Water Samples Collected through Community Engaged Research in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River Basin

“…reported the benefits of hybridizing perfluoro-alkyls to catechols [69]. The catechols allow for strong adhesion to many different substrates and, by attaching a perfluoro-alkyl side chain to the catechol, a self-assembled monolayer can be Within this report, additional verification of bistriflimide was confirmed by isotopic pattern matching, which indicated at least one sulfur atom due to the M + 2 peak intensity (Figure 4B) and MS2 fragmentation matching to in-silico and literature with the exception of the missing 210.9221 m/z, which was in low abundance in the reported literature and possibly not captured in this analysis (Figure 4C) [63]. A major chemical manufacturer located outside Fayetteville NC is a significant producer of the chemicals needed in lithiumion battery production.…”

“…Bistriflimide ( Figure 4 A) is a commercially available strong acid that is useful in many areas of the chemical industry, specifically the production of lithium-ion batteries where it is often employed as an electrolyte that separates the negative and positive electrodes within the battery [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. There are very few reports regarding the environmental contamination of bistriflimide, but to date it has been reported in e-waste facility particulate matter in Italy [ 63 ], soil samples from an oil refinery, landfill leachate and surface water samples from the Chaobai river in China [ 64 , 65 , 66 ], and surface water samples from the Mulde and Rhein rivers in Germany [ 67 ]. Barola et.…”

“…al. [ 63 ] reported bistriflimide as the most frequently found contaminant across three Italian e-waste facilities tested and was the first report that directly associated fluorinated ionic liquids with e-waste, an electrical appliance recycling industry. Barola confirmed the identity (Confidence Level 1) of bistriflimide by comparison of a pure analytical standard to field collected samples and reported the following masses: precursor mass of 279.9175 m / z that produced the product ions 210.9221 m / z , 146.9592 m / z , 82.9591 m / z , and 77.9638 m / z .…”

“…al. [63] reported bistriflimide as the most frequently found contaminant across three Italian e-waste facilities tested and was the first report that directly associated fluorinated ionic liquids with e-waste, an electrical appliance recycling industry. Barola confirmed the identity (Confidence Level 1) of…”

“…al. [ 63 ] (blue), and ( D ) box and whisker plots of the peak abundances for each geographical region (Pittsboro: dark blue circles, Fayetteville (tan triangles), and Wilmington (grey squares) and notable sites are marked with identifier and if the water was drinking ( D ) or recreational water ( R ).…”