Biodegradation of perfluorinated compounds

Perfluoroalkyl sulfonic and carboxylic acids: a critical review of physicochemical properties, levels and patterns in waters and wastewaters, and treatment methods

Perfluorinated acids (PFAs) are an emerging class of environmental contaminants present in various environmental and biological matrices. Two major PFA subclasses are the perfluorinated sulfonic acids (PFSAs) and carboxylic acids (PFCAs). The physicochemical properties and partitioning behavior for the linear PFA members are poorly understood and widely debated. Even less is known about the numerous branched congeners with varying perfluoroalkyl chain lengths, leading to confounding issues around attempts to constrain the properties of PFAs. Current computational methods are not adequate for reliable multimedia modeling efforts and risk assessments. These compounds are widely present in surface, ground, marine, and drinking waters at concentrations that vary from pg L(-1) to microg L(-1). Concentration gradients of up to several orders of magnitude are observed in all types of aquatic systems and reflect proximity to known industrial sources concentrated near populated regions. Some wastewaters contain PFAs at mg L(-1) to low g L(-1) levels, or up to 10 orders of magnitude higher than present in more pristine receiving waters. With the exception of trifluoroacetic acid, which is thought to have both significant natural and anthropogenic sources, all PFSAs and PFCAs are believed to arise from human activities. Filtration and sorption technologies offer the most promising existing removal methods for PFAs in aqueous waste streams, although sonochemical approaches hold promise. Additional studies need to be conducted to better define opportunities from evaporative, extractive, thermal, advanced oxidative, direct and catalyzed photochemical, reductive, and biodegradation methods. Most PFA treatment methods exhibit slow kinetic profiles, hindering their direct application in conventional low hydraulic residence time systems.

Persistence of perfluoroalkylated substances in closed bottle tests with municipal sewage sludge

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE

Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) are chemicals with completely fluorinated alkyl chains. The specific properties of the F-C bond give PFAS a high stability and make them very useful in a wide range of applications. PFAS also pose a potential risk to the environment and humans because they have been recently characterized as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. The objective of this work is to study the bacterial degradation of PFAS under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in municipal sewage sludge as a contribution toward understanding their environmental fate and behavior.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Bacterial communities from sewage sludge were exposed to a mixture of PFAS under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Individual PFAS concentrations were determined in the experiment media at different exposure times using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis after extraction with solid-phase extraction.

RESULTS

The PFAS analyses of samples of sludge showed repeatable replicate results, allowing a reliable quantification of the different groups of PFAS analyzed. No conclusive evidence for PFAS degradation was observed under the experimental conditions tested in this work. Reduction in concentrations, however, was observed for some PFAS in sludge under aerobic conditions.

DISCUSSION

The largest concentration decrease occurred for the fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), especially for the 8:2 FTOH, which have been described as biodegradable in the literature. However, this concentration decrease could be due to different causes: sorption to glass, septa, or matrix components, as well as bacterial activity. Therefore, it is not certain that biodegradation occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

PFAS are very recalcitrant chemicals, especially when fully fluorinated. Although some decreases in concentration have been observed for some PFAS, such as the FTOHs, there is no conclusive evidence for biodegradation. It can be concluded that the PFAS tested in these experiments are non-biodegradable under these experimental conditions.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

Since the presence of PFAS is ubiquitous in the environment and they can be toxic, more research is needed in this field to elucidate which PFAS are susceptible to biodegradation, the conditions required for biodegradation, and the possible routes followed. A possible inhibitory effect of PFAS on bacteria, the threshold concentrations, and conditions of inhibition should also be investigated.