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Environmental forensic investigation of chemical manufacturing and use of PFAS by nontargeted analysis (SETAC 2022)
Citation:
McCord, J. Environmental forensic investigation of chemical manufacturing and use of PFAS by nontargeted analysis (SETAC 2022). Annual Meeting of the North America Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Exposure (SETAC), Pittsburgh, PA, November 13 - 17, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
Environmental screening is necessary to identify new and emerging chemical contaminants. Through partnerships with state and regional EPA offices we have obtained contaminated waste and groundwater impacted by industrial manufacturing and examined itusing mass spectrometry techniques. this consistently enables the detection and quantification of legacy PFAS contaminants, as well as novel PFAS associated with different manufacturing chemistries. Long-term, the detected compounds are of interest for local biomonitoring efforts and toxicity/exposure modeling as PFAS of concern for similarly affected regions.
Description:
Industrial producers and users of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have been a major source of chemical contamination to nearby communities due to historical releases of legacy PFAS. Following the general phase-out of legacy PFAS such as PFOA/PFOS, industrial usage has shifted to alternative PFAS chemicals and it has been the domain of non-targeted analysis (NTA) to identify replacement species. State and regional government offices have a significant interest in identifying emerging chemical contaminants such as PFAS due to concerns for potential widespread release and the persistence and bioaccumulation of PFAS species. As such, over the last several years the office of research and development has applied non-targeted analytical approaches to the analysis of industrial effluent and contaminated environmental media (e.g. groundwater) provided by our state and regional partners to investigate the identity and quantities of legacy and emerging PFAS chemistries. Our NTA investigations using high-resolution mass spectrometry examined the chemical identities and abundances of PFAS in effluent and industrial use products. This research has identified multiple novel PFAS classes, including novel PFAS fluoroether species exhibiting ether linkages and acid head groups, chlorinated perfluoropolyethers (ClPFPECAs), and polyfluorinated side products of polyfluorovinylidine (PVDF); identified specific replacement chemicals used in applications such as metal plating and PFOS-free AFFF; and identified the presence of these replacement PFAS in local media, including biota. This presentation will discuss case studies of recent work by EPA ORD in NTA investigations of PFAS sources. Examination of effluent impacted media indicates that in the absence of treatment that there is frequent presence of effluent-derived contaminants from industrial sources, even in the case of “non-contact” processes; source examination contains both intentionally added chemical species and production byproducts as common origins for emerging PFAS; and non-targeted interrogation of water treatment approaches for emerging contaminants indicates that existing PFAS treatment technologies can be effective control for many undescribed PFAS species. The talk will additionally discuss efforts to ensure the consistent application of NTA approaches, transparent reporting of NTA results, and decision making using NTA site investigations.
