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Vegetative and Soil-Profile Partitioning of New-Generation Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in New Jersey, USA
Citation:
Davis, Mary J., M. Evich, Brad Acrey, S. Goodrow, E. Bergman, AND J. Washington. Vegetative and Soil-Profile Partitioning of New-Generation Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in New Jersey, USA. 2020 SETAC North America Annual Meeting, Virtual, November 15 - 19, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
Abstract to be submitted for a poster at 2020 SETAC North America Annual Meeting
Description:
The rapid development and employment of new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) chemistries in industrial processes and commercial products has made properly identifying and classifying these compounds an increasingly difficult challenge. A new class of PFAS, named chloroperfluoropolyether carboxylates (ClPFPECAs), has recently been discovered distributed throughout surface soils in New Jersey, USA. Here, we extend the study of these new-generation compounds to determine their presence and relative abundance in corresponding vegetation and soil-core samples. Non-targeted analysis of samples was conducted using liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to tentatively identify ClPFPECAs in vegetation and soil cores. Conventional LC-MS was used to semi-quantitate ClPFPECAs as well as quantitate legacy compounds (i.e. perfluorooctanoic acid; PFOA). Analyzing the relative abundance of both new generation and legacy compounds in these matrices enables elucidation of the partitioning of these compounds in the environment with respect to chemistry and fluorinated-carbon chain length. Notably, ClPFPECAs were found to partition more strongly in vegetation than legacy perfluoro carboxylates, with a similar dependence on fluorinated-carbon chain length. Expanding the study of PFAS-matrix partitioning to these new-generation compounds will help to broaden the understanding of their environmental mobility.
