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Per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) can have harmful effects on human health and the environment. They are still used in numerous everyday products. Together with an international team of researchers, scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon investigated water samples from German and Chinese rivers affected by industrial point sources. Using an innovative method, they identified almost 60 substances that are overlooked by conventional analysis of well-known PFAS. Eight substances were detected in the environment for the first time. The PFAS patterns indicate that production in Germany has shifted to replacement chemicals of which many are still PFAS. In contrast, traditional, partially banned PFAS still play a major role in China. The study has been published in Environmental Science & Technology.
The very properties that make PFAS attractive for use in consumer products can be problematic for human health and the environment. PFAS can be released into the environment during manufacture, processing, use and disposal of the products, undergo transport to remote regions or bioaccumulate in organisms. The best-known PFAS representatives, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), can reduce the effects of vaccinations, increase susceptibility to infections and result in high cholesterol levels. A study published by the German Environment Agency in 2020 showed that in one fifth of the investigated blood samples from German children and adolescents, the PFOA concentration was above the HBM-I assessment value. Levels must remain below this value to rule out any health impairment.
”PFOS and PFOA were globally banned, but industrial firms switched to replacement chemicals that may pose similar health and environmental concerns – so-called regrettable substitutes“, says Dr. Hanna Joerss from Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon’s Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry. Using traditional analytical methods, researchers could only consider known compounds for which reference standards were available. Because the chemical industry does not regularly disclose formulations that are confidential business information, scientists often did not know which new PFAS had been introduced into the market. (Source: Hereon press release)
Read the complete press release:
==> Perfluorinated Chemicals: Pollution is underestimated
Joerss, H., Menger, F., Tang, J., Ebinghaus, R., & Ahrens, L. (2022): Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: Suspect Screening Reveals Point Source-Specific Patterns of Emerging and Novel Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in German and Chinese Rivers. Environmental Science & Technology, doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c07987
Abstract:
Only a few dozens of the several thousand existing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are monitored using conventional target analysis. This study employed suspect screening to examine patterns of emerging and novel PFAS in German and Chinese river water affected by industrial point sources. In total, 86 PFAS were (tentatively) identified and grouped into 18 structure categories. Homologue patterns revealed distinct differences between fluoropolymer production sites of the two countries. In the Chinese Xiaoqing River Basin, the C8 homologue was the most prevalent compound of the emerging series of chlorinated perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (Cl-PFCAs) and perfluoroalkylether carboxylic acids (PFECAs). In contrast, C6 and shorter homologues were dominant in the German Alz River. This indicates that the phaseout of long-chain compounds in Europe and their ongoing production in Asian countries also apply to unregulated emerging PFAS classes. Additional characteristics to differentiate the point sources were the peak area ratio of perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) versus the emerging compound hydro-substituted PFBS (H-PFBS) as well as the occurrence of byproducts of the sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene-based polymer Nafion. The large number of identified unregulated PFAS underlines the importance of a grouping approach on a regulatory level, whereas the revealed contamination patterns can be used to estimate, prioritize, and minimize contributions of specific sources.