Aerobic Biotransformation and Defluorination of Fluoroalkylether Substances (ether PFAS): Substrate Specificity, Pathways, and Applications.

ABSTRACT: Fluoroalkylether substances (ether PFAS) constitute a large group of emerging PFAS with uncertain environmental fate. Among them, GenX is the well-known alternative to perfluorooctanoic acid and one of the six proposed PFAS to be regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This study investigated the structure-biodegradability relationship for 12 different ether PFAS with a carboxylic acid headgroup in activated sludge communities. Only polyfluorinated ethers with at least one -CH₂- moiety adjacent to or a C=C bond in the proximity of the ether bond underwent active biotransformation via oxidative and hydrolytic O-dealkylation. The bioreactions at ether bonds led to the formation of unstable fluoroalcohol intermediates subject to spontaneous defluorination. We further

SUBMITTER: Jin B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10501197 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature