Polyfluorinated compounds in the atmosphere along a cruise pathway from the Japan Sea to the Arctic Ocean

Neutral polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) were measured in high-volume air samples collected on board the research vessel Snow Dragon during the 4th Chinese National Arctic Expedition from the Japan Sea to the Arctic Ocean in 2010. Four volatile and semi-volatile PFASs (fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), fluorotelomer acids (FTAs), perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides (FASAs), and sulfonamidoethanols (FASEs)) were analyzed respectively in the gas and particle phases. FTOHs were the dominant PFASs in the gas phase (61-358 pg m⁻³), followed by FTAs (5.2-47.9 pg m⁻³), FASEs (1.9-15.0 pg m⁻³), and FASAs (0.5-2.1 pg m⁻³). In the particle phase, the dominant PFAS class was FTOHs (1.0-9.9 pg m⁻³). The particle-associated fraction followed the general trend of FASEs > FASAs > FTOHs. Compared with other atmospheric PFAS measurements, the ranges of concentrations of ∑FTOH in this study were similar to those reported from Toronto, north America (urban), the northeast Atlantic Ocean, and northern Germany. Significant correlations between FASEs in the gas phase and ambient air temperature indicate that cold surfaces such as sea-ice, snowpack, and surface seawater influence atmospheric FASEs.     

全氟烷基羧酸前体物氟调醇的污染水平与生物转化研究进展

全氟烷基羧酸(perfluorocarboxylic acids, PFCAs)普遍具有环境持久性、生物富集性及生物毒性效应.随着政府和国际组织对PFCAs生产和排放的监控和管制,探究PFCAs的间接来源变得愈加迫切.氟调醇(fluorotelomer alcohols, FTOHs)是生产含氟聚合物和含氟表面活性剂的重要原材料,被广泛应用于消费品与工业产品的生产.此外,FTOHs也是多种氟调类产品降解转化过程的主要中间体.FTOHs的降解已被普遍认为是环境和生物体中PFCAs重要的间接来源.FTOHs进入环境后可进行长距离迁移,并且能够在环境介质和生物体内不断转化,生成一系列多氟类中间物质,最终转化生成不同链长的PFCAs.近期研究发现,FTOHs的多氟类中间代谢物表现出比PFCAs更强的生物毒性效应.因此,只有全面了解FTOHs的污染水平与生物转化过程,才能正确评估FTOHs暴露的环境和健康风险.本文全面介绍了FTOHs的理化性质与环境中的来源,概述了FTOHs的分析方法和环境污染状况,分析了FTOHs在不同生物介质中的转化过程,并解析了FTOHs的致毒机制.     

Persistence of perfluoroalkylated substances in closed bottle tests with municipal sewage sludge

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE: Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) are chemicals with completely fluorinated alkyl chains. The specific properties of the F-C bond give PFAS a high stability and make them very useful in a wide range of applications. PFAS also pose a potential risk to the environment and humans because they have been recently characterized as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. The objective of this work is to study the bacterial degradation of PFAS under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in municipal sewage sludge as a contribution toward understanding their environmental fate and behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bacterial communities from sewage sludge were exposed to a mixture of PFAS under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Individual PFAS concentrations were determined in the experiment media at different exposure times using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis after extraction with solid-phase extraction. RESULTS: The PFAS analyses of samples of sludge showed repeatable replicate results, allowing a reliable quantification of the different groups of PFAS analyzed. No conclusive evidence for PFAS degradation was observed under the experimental conditions tested in this work. Reduction in concentrations, however, was observed for some PFAS in sludge under aerobic conditions. DISCUSSION: The largest concentration decrease occurred for the fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), especially for the 8:2 FTOH, which have been described as biodegradable in the literature. However, this concentration decrease could be due to different causes: sorption to glass, septa, or matrix components, as well as bacterial activity. Therefore, it is not certain that biodegradation occurred. CONCLUSIONS: PFAS are very recalcitrant chemicals, especially when fully fluorinated. Although some decreases in concentration have been observed for some PFAS, such as the FTOHs, there is no conclusive evidence for biodegradation. It can be concluded that the PFAS tested in these experiments are non-biodegradable under these experimental conditions. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Since the presence of PFAS is ubiquitous in the environment and they can be toxic, more research is needed in this field to elucidate which PFAS are susceptible to biodegradation, the conditions required for biodegradation, and the possible routes followed. A possible inhibitory effect of PFAS on bacteria, the threshold concentrations, and conditions of inhibition should also be investigated.     

深圳市大气中全氟化合物的残留特征

为探究深圳市大气中全氟化合物(perfluorinated compounds,PFCs)的残留特征,基于负载XAD-4的PUF膜被动采样器采集了2014年11月1日至2015年1月31日深圳市12个位点的大气样品,分析了大气中7种挥发性PFCs和15种离子型PFCs的含量及分布特征.结果表明,深圳市大气中ΣPFCs平均浓度为79.0 pg·m-3(23.7~157 pg·m-3),以挥发性PFCs为主.8∶2氟调聚醇(fluorotelomer alcohol,FTOH)、6∶2 FTOH和全氟戊酸(perfluoropentanoic acid,PFPe A)、全氟辛酸(perfluorooctane acid,PFOA)分别是挥发性和离子型PFCs的主要组分.深圳市大气中挥发性和离子型PFCs的空间分布相同,均呈西北高东南低的态势.此外,6∶2 FTOHs、8∶2 FTOHs、PFPe A、PFHx A和PFOA与PM_(2.5)、PM_(10)呈正相关(P0.05,P0.01),而与PM_(10)的相关性更显著.