Perfluoroalkyl acids in Lake Superior water: Trends and sources

Contamination risk of raw drinking water caused by PFOA sources along a river reach in south-western Finland

“…The results of Scott et al (2010) and Castiglioni et al (2015) are also in agreement with our 11% estimate: Scott et al (2010) report the PFOA load from CWWTPs to Lake Superior in North America to be 6% of the total PFOA input. The major PFAA sources to the lake were found to be riverine discharges and precipitation.…”

“…Methods that have been used to assess the importance of different PFAA sources include mass balance calculations (Filipovic et al, 2013;Scott et al, 2010;Takazawa et al, 2009), modeling applications (Earnshaw et al, 2014;Paul et al, 2012), and estimation of correlations between PFAA concentrations and for example population or catchment surface area (Müller et al, 2011;Murakami et al, 2008;Pistocchi and Loos, 2009;Takazawa et al, 2009). Different studies place varying emphasis on the importance of the known PFOA sources: communal wastewater treatment plants (CWWTPs) (Becker et al, 2008;Müller et al, 2011;Perkola and Sainio, 2013;Yu et al, 2009), industrial WWTPs (Murakami et al, 2008;Pistocchi and Loos, 2009;Takazawa et al, 2009) and atmospheric deposition (Filipovic et al, 2013;Scott et al, 2010) have all been reported to be major PFOA sources. According to one estimate, 60% of perfluorocarboxylates (including PFOA) are emitted originally from fluoropolymer factories, out of which 23% is distributed to air, 65% to water and 12% to land (Prevedouros et al, 2006).…”

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the environment: Terminology, classification, and origins

“…They have also been detected in WWTP effluents (Huset et al 2008; Ahrens et al, 2009b), landfill leachate (Eggen et al 2010; Huset et al 2011), precipitation and fresh surface waters (Kim and Kannan 2007; Scott et al 2010; Nguyen et al 2011), seawater contaminated by AFFFs (Taniyasu et al 2005), sediments (Zushi et al 2010), Arctic biota (Miljeteig et al 2009), and human serum (Lee and Mabury 2011). These FTSAs arise from the degradation of more complex fluorotelomer-based substances containing the C n F 2n+1 CH 2 CH 2 S–R or C n F 2n+1 CH 2 CH 2 SO 2 –R moiety (where R is a hydrophilic functional group that provides surfactant properties).…”

“…A number of reported observations of n:2 FTCAs and/or n:2 FTUCAs have occurred in environmental media and biota such as atmospheric particles (Stock et al 2007 ), indoor dust (Barber et al 2007 ), precipitation (Loewen et al 2005 ; Scott et al 2006 ; Taniyasu et al 2008 ; Kwok et al 2010 ; Scott et al 2010 ), surface waters (Stock et al 2007 ; Ahrens et al, 2009a ; Scott et al 2010 ; Zushi et al 2011 ), sediments (Stock et al 2007 ), WWTP effluent (Sinclair and Kannan 2006 ; Zushi et al 2011 ), sewage sludge (Zhang et al 2010 ), landfill leachate (Huset et al 2011 ), animal biota (Houde et al 2005 ; Taniyasu et al 2005 ; Butt, Mabury, et al 2007 ; Butt, Muir, et al 2007 ; Furdui et al 2007 ; Gebbink et al 2009 ), human breast milk (So et al 2006 ), and foodstuffs (Ostertag et al 2009 ). The 7:3 Acid has also been detected in biota (Powley et al 2008 ; Peng et al 2010 ; Guruge et al 2011 ).…”

“…The n:2 fluorotelomer sulfonic acids, C n F 2n+1 CH 2 CH 2 SO 3 H (FTSAs; Table 3 ) have been found in groundwater, soil, and biota, especially at military bases, firefighting training sites, and locations where major fires have been extinguished through use of AFFFs (Schultz et al 2004 ; Norwegian Pollution Control Authority 2008 ; Oakes et al 2010 ). They have also been detected in WWTP effluents (Huset et al 2008 ; Ahrens et al, 2009b ), landfill leachate (Eggen et al 2010 ; Huset et al 2011 ), precipitation and fresh surface waters (Kim and Kannan 2007 ; Scott et al 2010 ; Nguyen et al 2011 ), seawater contaminated by AFFFs (Taniyasu et al 2005 ), sediments (Zushi et al 2010 ), Arctic biota (Miljeteig et al 2009 ), and human serum (Lee and Mabury 2011 ). These FTSAs arise from the degradation of more complex fluorotelomer-based substances containing the C n F 2n+1 CH 2 CH 2 S–R or C n F 2n+1 CH 2 CH 2 SO 2 –R moiety (where R is a hydrophilic functional group that provides surfactant properties).…”