Loss and in situ production of perfluoroalkyl chemicals in outdoor biosolids-soil mesocosms.

ABSTRACT: An outdoor mesocosm study was conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, to explore the fate of thirteen perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) over the course of three years in biosolids/soil mixtures (1:2) exposed to ambient outdoor conditions. Analysis by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry showed perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) to be the most abundant analyte found early in the soil weathering experiment at 24.1 ng/g dry weight (dw), followed by perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA) and perfluorodecanoate (PFDA) at 18.4 and 17.4 ng/g dw, respectively. Short-chain perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs; C4-C8) showed observable loss from biosolids/soil mixtures, with experimentally determined first-order half-lives in soil ranging from 385 to 866 days. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononaoate (PF

SUBMITTER: Venkatesan AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4122524 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature