Partitioning of perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorohexanesulfonate in the aquatic environment after an accidental release of aqueous film forming foam at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport

Abstract

In summer 2008, an accidental release of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) took place at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport (The Netherlands). After the release, water, fish, and sediment samples were collected and analyzed for perfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs). In situ perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) sediment-water distribution factor (KD ) values, bioaccumulation factor (BAF) values, and biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF) values showed a remarkable agreement among reference and impacted sites, 10 wk after the incident as well as after 3 yr.

Annual dynamics of perfluorinated compounds in sediment: A case study in the Morava River in Zlín district, Czech Republic

“…The appearance of those compounds in sediments may be related to their usage in firefighting foams as was earlier reported in case of the streams in the vicinity of an airport in the Netherlands (Kwadijk et al, 2014). The highest observed average concentration of PFHxS among the studied PFCs could be associated with the usage of C6 PFCs as an alternative to PFOS in many applications including coated textiles, water-repelling papers and firefighting foams (POPRC, 2012).…”

“…Those results are in agreement with identical correlation for other legacy POPs made by Prokes et al, 2014. (Ahrens et al, 2010;Campo et al, 2015;Higgins and Luthy, 2006;Kwadijk et al, 2010;Kwadijk et al, 2014;Labadie and Chevreuil, 2011a;Li et al, 2011;Pan et al, 2014;Pico et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2013).…”

“…The K oc value for PFCAs and PFASs increases by 0.5e0.6 log units per eCF 2 group (Higgins and Luthy, 2006). K oc values of individual PFCs estimated from environmental concentrations found in surface water sediments and those in overlaying water column are widely variable within a range of 2e3 orders of magnitude (Ahrens et al, 2010;Campo et al, 2015;Higgins and Luthy, 2006;Kwadijk et al, 2010Kwadijk et al, , 2014Labadie and Chevreuil, 2011a;Li et al, 2011;Pan et al, 2014;Pico et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2013). Evidently, there are additional parameters affecting the partition process and the variability of calculated data, especially differences in sediment characteristics (structure, composition of organic carbon) and possible disequilibrium between sediment and variable water concentrations (Theobald et al, 2012).…”

Temporal monitoring of perfluorooctane sulfonate accumulation in aquatic biota downstream of historical aqueous film forming foam use areas

“…The maximum concentration observed presently was 9349 ng/g dry weight in a longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) collected during June 2014 from our Macks Bayou location. To our knowledge, the highest PFOS concentrations observed in whole fish prior to the present study was measured in perch at 1500 mg/kg wet weight collected downstream of the Schiphol Amsterdam Airport (The Netherlands), 3 yr after an accidental spill of AFFFs [26], 1250 ng/g wet weight in a threadfin shad from the Ohio River (USA) [27], and 508 ng/g wet weight in sunfish and 351 ng/g wet weight in bullhead collected downstream of a Canadian airport with historic AFFF usage [13]. Higher concentrations have been observed in specific tissues like liver, however [3].…”

The precautionary principle and chemicals management: The example of perfluoroalkyl acids in groundwater

“…Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), most notably perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are present at elevated concentrations in surface waters, soils, groundwater and drinking water near to domestic and military airports, oil and gas sites, and firefighter training areas at multiple locations globally (for examples, see Table 1) (Awad et al, 2011;Moody et al, 2002;Kwadijk et al, 2014;De Solla et al, 2012;Filipovic et al, 2015;Kärrman et al, 2011;Moody et al, 2003;Schultz et al, 2004a;McGuire et al, 2014;Backe et al, 2013;Weiß et al, 2012;Rumsby et al, 2009;Järnberg et al, 2001). The contamination of the environmental media and drinking water by PFASs at these multiple global sites mostly originates from the repeated use and uncontrolled release of fire-fighting foams containing PFASs to the environment during fire-fighting and firefighter training activities over many years.…”