Fluorinated Organics in the Biosphere

Abstract

The use of organofluorine compounds has increased throughout this century, and they are now ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Although generally viewed as recalcitrant because of their lack of chemical reactivity, many fluorinated organics are biologically active. Several questions surround their distribution, fate, and effects. Of particular interest is the fate of perfluoroalkyl substituents, such as the trifluoromethyl group. Most evidence to date suggest that such groups resist defluorination, yet they can confer significant biological activity. Certain volatile fluorinated compounds can be oxidized in the troposphere yielding nonvolatile compounds, such as trifluoroacetic acid. In addition, certain nonvolatile fluorinated compounds can be transformed in the biosphere to volatile compounds. Research is needed to assess the fate and effects of nonvolatile fluorinated organics, the fluorinated impurities present in commercial formulations, and the transformation products generated by biochemical processes and/or oxidation in the troposphere.

Bioaccumulation and risk assessment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in wild freshwater fish from rivers in the Pearl River Delta region, South China

“…Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) and sulfonates (PFSAs), are a class of man-made organic chemicals widely used in industrial applications, such as carpet, metal plating, fire-fighting foams, semiconductor and food packaging, paper and other areas since the mid-20th century (Key et al, 1997;Giesy and Kannan, 2001;Moody and Field, 2000;Lewandowski et al, 2006). After almost a half century use, Giesy and Kannan (2001) first reported the occurrence of PFASs in wildlife, and this raised great concern over scientific community.…”

Contamination profiles of perfluoroalkyl substances in five typical rivers of the Pearl River Delta region, South China

“…Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made organic chemicals which are employed widely in a variety of industrial and consumer applications for over sixty years due to their unique physicochemical characteristics, including polymer resins, metal plating, electronic etching baths, photographic film, paper, upholstery, textiles, firefighting foams, cosmetics, and lubricants (Key et al, 1997;Moody and Field, 2000;Renner, 2001;Lewandowski et al, 2006). During production processes or after usage, PFASs can be released into the environment (Prevedouros et al, 2006), transported by oceanic currents (Yamashita et al, 2008) and atmosphere (Stock et al, 2007).…”

Spatiotemporal distribution and mass loadings of perfluoroalkyl substances in the Yangtze River of China

“…Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of synthetic fluorinated organic compounds with hydrophobic and oleophobic properties, and they are widely used in consumer and industrial applications such as textiles, clothes, carpet, paper coating, cosmetics, waterproof agents, and firefighting foams (Key et al, 1997;Moody and Field, 2000;Giesy and Kannan, 2001;Lewandowski et al, 2006). Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) are the two most prevalent groups of PFASs in the environment, and among them perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are the typical PFAS compounds transformed from many other precursors of PFASs such as N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol (EtFOSE), and N-ethyl perfluorobutane sulfonamide (EtFBSA) (Martin et al, 2006;Rhoads et al, 2008).…”