The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Side-chain fluorinated polymer surfactants in biosolids from wastewater treatment plants
Abstract
High concentrations of the main components in Scotchgard™ fabric protector products (pre-2002 and post-2002; side-chain fluorinated polymer surfactants, S1 and S2, respectively) were detected in biosolids samples from twenty pan-Canadian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Based on mass spectrometric analysis, S1 and S2 can be named as side-chain perfluorooctane sulfonamide-urethane polymer and side-chain perfluorobutane sulfonamide-urethane polymer, respectively. S1 (with C 8 F 17 side-chain) concentrations ranged from 1.08-105 ng/g d.w. and S2 (with C 4 F 9 side-chain) concentrations ranged from 37.5-2051 ng/g d.w., which were much higher than that of other commonly monitored perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). S1 and S2 concentrations were significantly correlated (p < 0.001; r 2 = 0.6142) indicating similar source origins. A negative linear correlation was observed (p < 0.05) between concentrations of S1 (or S2) with the volume of WWTP treated wastewater per day per person (m 3/person/day). The total concentration of 22 other PFAS ranged from 4.93 to 92.6 ng/g d.w., and approximately thirty times lower than S1 and S2 concentrations. The calculated elemental fluorine concentrations of ƩF S1&S2 were generally much higher than the sum of the other PFAS. PFAS concentrations in biosolids are likely underestimated without consideration of S1 and S2.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Some PFASs, like FTOH and perfluorooctane sulfonamidoethanol, are present in indoor air, while PFOA and PFOS accumulate in dust.”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [175]
In the citing paper
“The WTTP effluent typically comprises a suite of PFASs including sulfonamido derivatives such as FBSA49,50”
From Sources and Pathways of PFAS Occurrence in Water Sources: Relative Contribution of Land-Applied Biosolids in an Agricultural Dominated Watershed (2025) · cites this paper as [49]
Citations
Cites
Matuszewski, B. K., Constanzer, M. L., & Chavez-Eng, C. M. (2003) · Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ac020361s · Cited by 5,426
Buck, R. C., Franklin, J., Berger, U., Conder, J. M., Cousins, I. T., de Voogt, P., Jensen, A. A., Kannan, K., Mabury, S. A., & van Leeuwen, S. P. (2011) · Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management · doi:10.1002/ieam.258 · Cited by 4,641
Sunderland, E. M., Hu, X. C., Dassuncao, C., Tokranov, A. K., Wagner, C. C., & Allen, J. G. (2019) · Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology · doi:10.1038/s41370-018-0094-1 · Cited by 2,786
Sources, fate and transport of perfluorocarboxylates
Prevedouros, K., Cousins, I. T., Buck, R. C., & Korzeniowski, S. H. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es0512475 · Cited by 2,594
A first global production, emission, and environmental inventory for perfluorooctane sulfonate
Paul, A. G., Jones, K. C., & Sweetman, A. J. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es802216n · Cited by 1,096
Wang, Z., Cousins, I. T., Scheringer, M., & Hungerbühler, K. (2013) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.08.021 · Cited by 924
Monitoring of Perfluorinated Compounds in Aquatic Biota: An Updated Review: PFCs in Aquatic Biota
Houde, M., De Silva, A. O., Muir, D. C. G., & Letcher, R. J. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es104326w · Cited by 847
Self-citationBarry, V., Winquist, A. G., & Steenland, K. (2013) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.1306615 · Cited by 824
Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in the aquatic environment: a review of their occurrence and fate
Ahrens, L. (2011) · J. Environ. Monit. · doi:10.1039/c0em00373e · Cited by 759
Accumulation of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in agricultural plants: A review
Ghisi, R., Vamerali, T., & Manzetti, S. (2019) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.10.023 · Cited by 705
Epidemiologic Evidence on the Health Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
Steenland, K., Fletcher, T., & Savitz, D. A. (2010) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.0901827 · Cited by 660
The overlooked short- and ultrashort-chain poly- and perfluorinated substances: A review
Ateia, M., Maroli, A., Tharayil, N., & Karanfil, T. (2019) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.12.186 · Cited by 639
Mass Loading and Fate of Perfluoroalkyl Surfactants in Wastewater Treatment Plants
Sinclair, E., & Kannan, K. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es051798v · Cited by 547
Microbial degradation of polyfluoroalkyl chemicals in the environment: A review
Liu, J., & Mejia Avendaño, S. (2013) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.08.022 · Cited by 525
Municipal landfill leachates: a significant source for new and emerging pollutants
Eggen, T., Moeder, M., & Arukwe, A. (2010) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.07.049 · Cited by 498
Fluorochemical Mass Flows in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility
Schultz, M. M., Higgins, C. P., Huset, C. A., Luthy, R. G., Barofsky, D. F., & Field, J. A. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es061025m · Cited by 432
Review on the occurrence, fate and removal of perfluorinated compounds during wastewater treatment
Arvaniti, O. S., & Stasinakis, A. S. (2015) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.023 · Cited by 422
Review of the fate and transformation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in landfills
Hamid, H., Li, L. Y., & Grace, J. R. (2018) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.030 · Cited by 343
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and human fetal growth: A systematic review
Bach, C. C., Bech, B. H., Brix, N., Nohr, E. A., Bonde, J. P., & Henriksen, T. B. (2014) · Critical Reviews in Toxicology · doi:10.3109/10408444.2014.952400 · Cited by 311
Global distribution of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in potential human exposure source–A review
Jian, J.-M., Guo, Y., Zeng, L., Liu, L., Lu, X., Wang, F., & Zeng, E. Y. (2017) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2017.07.024 · Cited by 303
Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in landfill leachates
Busch, J., Ahrens, L., Sturm, R., & Ebinghaus, R. (2010) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2009.12.031 · Cited by 279
Ballesteros, V., Costa, O., Iñiguez, C., Fletcher, T., Ballester, F., & Lopez-Espinosa, M.-J. (2017) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2016.10.015 · Cited by 242
Perfluorooctane surfactants in waste waters, the major source of river pollution
Becker, A. M., Gerstmann, S., & Frank, H. (2008) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.01.009 · Cited by 236
Evaluation of wastewater and street runoff as sources of perfluorinated surfactants (PFSs)
Murakami, M., Shinohara, H., & Takada, H. (2009) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.10.018 · Cited by 218
Analytical chemistry of perfluoroalkylated substances
de Voogt, P., & Sáez, M. J. F. (2005) · TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.trac.2005.10.008 · Cited by 206
Schultes, L., Vestergren, R., Volkova, K., Westberg, E., Jacobson, T., & Benskin, J. P. (2018) · Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts · doi:10.1039/c8em00368h · Cited by 193
Investigation of the Biodegradation Potential of a Fluoroacrylate Polymer Product in Aerobic Soils
Russell, M. H., Berti, W. R., Szostek, B., & Buck, R. C. (2008) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es0710499 · Cited by 187
Degradability of an Acrylate-Linked, Fluorotelomer Polymer in Soil
Washington, J. W., Ellington, J. J., Jenkins, T. M., Evans, J. J., Yoo, H., & Hafner, S. C. (2009) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es9002668 · Cited by 155
Yeung, L. W. Y., Silva, A. O. D., Loi, E. I. H., Märvin, C. H., Taniyasu, S., Yamashita, N., Mabury, S. A., Muir, D. C. G., & Lam, P. K. S. (2013) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.06.026 · Cited by 149
Lee, H., Tevlin, A. G., Mabury, S. A., & Mabury, S. A. (2013) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es403949z · Cited by 143
Bräunig, J., Baduel, C., Barnes, C. M., & Mueller, J. F. (2018) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.231 · Cited by 142
Chu, S., Letcher, R. J., McGoldrick, D. J., & Backus, S. M. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b05058 · Cited by 133
Self-citationWang, D., Steer, H., Tait, T. N., Williams, Z., Pacepavicius, G., Young, T., Ng, T., Smyth, S. A., Kinsman, L., & Alaee, M. (2012) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.10.047 · Cited by 125
Self-citationAllred, B. M., Lang, J. R., Barlaz, M. A., & Field, J. A. (2015) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b01040 · Cited by 124
Parameters affecting the formation of perfluoroalkyl acids during wastewater treatment
Guerra, P., Kim, M., Kinsman, L., Ng, T., Alaee, M., & Smyth, S. A. (2014) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.03.016 · Cited by 115
Self-citationMacInnis, J. J., French, K., Muir, D. C. G., Spencer, C., Criscitiello, A. S., Silva, A. O. D., & Young, C. J. (2017) · Environmental Science Processes & Impacts · doi:10.1039/c6em00593d · Cited by 95
Ruan, T., & Jiang, G. (2017) · TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.trac.2017.07.024 · Cited by 94
Historical trends of inorganic and organic fluorine in sediments of Lake Michigan
Codling, G., Vogt, A., Jones, P. D., Wang, T., Wang, P., Lü, Y., Corcoran, M. B., Bonina, S. M. C., Li, A., Sturchio, N. C., et al. (2014) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.03.080 · Cited by 91
Occurrence and point source characterization of perfluoroalkyl acids in sewage sludge
Alder, A. C., & van der Voet, J. (2014) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.07.045 · Cited by 82
Gewurtz, S. B., Backus, S. M., Silva, A. O. D., Ahrens, L., Armellin, A., Evans, M. S., Fraser, S., Gledhill, M., Guerra, P., Harner, T., et al. (2013) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2013.05.008 · Cited by 80
Self-citationChu, S., & Letcher, R. J. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es500169x · Cited by 59
Self-citationChu, S., & Letcher, R. J. (2017) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.252 · Cited by 56
Self-citationAnalysis of perfluoroalkyl carboxylates in vacuum cleaner dust samples in Japan
Liu, W., Chen, S., Harada, K. H., & Koizumi, A. (2011) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.09.024 · Cited by 33
Navarro, I., de la Torre, A., Sanz, P., Fernández, C., Carbonell, G., & Martínez, M. D. L. Á. (2018) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.07.007 · Cited by 28
A mixed-mode chromatographic separation method for the analysis of dialkyl phosphates
Chu, S., & Letcher, R. J. (2018) · Journal of Chromatography A · doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2017.12.069 · Cited by 20
Self-citationBenfodda, Z., Guillen, F., Romestand, B., Dahmani, A., & Blancou, H. (2009) · European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2009.11.052 · Cited by 17
Current status of sludge processing and biosolids disposition in Ontario
Jin, C., Archer, G., & Parker, W. J. (2018) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.05.024 · Cited by 16
Cited by
Sorted by citations
De Silva, A. O., Armitage, J. M., Bruton, T. A., Dassuncao, C., Heiger-Bernays, W., Hu, X. C., Kärrman, A., Kelly, B., Ng, C., Robuck, A., et al. (2020) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.4935 · Cited by 835
Lenka, S. P., Kah, M., & Padhye, L. P. (2021) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117187 · Cited by 755
Stoiber, T., Evans, S., & Naidenko, O. V. (2020) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127659 · Cited by 262
Sources, Fate, and Plant Uptake in Agricultural Systems of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Costello, M. C. S., & Lee, L. (2020) · Current Pollution Reports · doi:10.1007/s40726-020-00168-y · Cited by 226
Bolan, N., Sarkar, B., Vithanage, M., Singh, G., Tsang, D. C. W., Mukhopadhyay, R., Ramadass, K., Vinu, A., Sun, Y., Ramanayaka, S., et al. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106600 · Cited by 185
Metadata
- Authors
- Letcher, R. J., Chu, S., & Smyth, S.-A.
- Affiliations
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Letcher, Robert J.
- Venue
- Journal of Hazardous Materials
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-04
- Volume
- 388
- Pages
- 122044
- ISSN
- 0304-3894 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2999485676
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7
- FWCI
- 4.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Hazardous Materials (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division (Environment and Climate Change Canada
- ECCC’s Chemicals Management Plan
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- biosolids, wastewater treatment plants, perfluorinated compounds, PFAS contamination, elemental fluorine, source apportionment
- MeSH terms
- Biosolids, Canada, Environmental Monitoring, Fluorocarbon Polymers, Surface-Active Agents, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Purification, Wastewater
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review