Cited by 43Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchSynthesis and properties of polymersFluorine in Organic Chemistry

Hunting the missing fluorine in aqueous film-forming foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances

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Liu, Min, Glover, Caitlin M., Munoz, Gabriel, Duy, Sung Vo, Sauvé, Sébastien, Liu, Jinxia·2024·Journal of Hazardous Materials

Abstract

Since aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) are major sources of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), understanding the quantity and type of PFAS present in AFFFs is crucial for assessing environmental risk and remediation. We characterized 25 foams from Canada and Europe, including two non-AFFFs and two fluorine-free AFFFs. We used liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to identify novel PFAS, as well as total oxidizable precursor assays (TOP) and total organofluorine (TOF) measurements for comparison. LC-HRMS showed that the two non-AFFF foams and two PFAS-free AFFFs contained little or no PFAS, confirmed by TOF measurement using combustion ion chromatography (CIC). The PFAS-containing AFFFs, however, spanned a wide concentration range of TOF (2200-45,000 mg F/L) and contained 22 new classes of polyfluoroalkyl substances not previously reported. As a result of identifying new compounds, LC-HRMS was fully able to capture the oxidizable precursors determined by TOP assay in all tested fluorotelomer (FT) AFFFs, while unknown compounds still constituted a significant fraction (19-53 mol%) in most electrochemical fluorination (ECF) AFFFs. A fluorine mass balance was achieved by comparing the amounts of compounds identified by LC-HRMS with those detected by CIC, although LC-HRMS overestimated TOF with a recovery of 127 ± 36%.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.133006

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Authors
Liu, M., Glover, C. M., Munoz, G., Duy, S. V., Sauvé, S., & Liu, J.
Affiliations
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Université de Montréal (CA)
Corresponding author
Liu, Jinxia
Venue
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2024-02
Volume
464
Pages
133006
ISSN
0304-3894 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4388694849
Cited by
43
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 1
FWCI
3.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Hazardous Materials (acceptedVersion)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (ER19-1157)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPAS-2018-522617)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Synthesis and properties of polymers
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
Keywords
aqueous film-forming foam, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, firefighting foam, fluorine mass balance, combustion ion chromatography, environmental risk assessment

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