Cited by 295Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchEnvironmental Chemistry and AnalysisPesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies

Aerobic Biotransformation of Fluorotelomer Thioether Amido Sulfonate (Lodyne) in AFFF-Amended Microcosms

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Harding-Marjanovic, Katie C., Houtz, Erika F., Yi, Shan, Field, Jennifer A., Sedlak, David L., Alvarez-Cohen, Lisa·2015·Environmental Science & Technology

Abstract

The aerobic biotransformation pathways of 4:2, 6:2, and 8:2 fluorotelomer thioether amido sulfonate (FtTAoS) were characterized by determining the fate of the compounds in soil and medium microcosms amended with an aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) solution. The biotransformation of FtTAoS occurred in live microcosms over approximately 40 days and produced 4:2, 6:2, and 8:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (FtS), 6:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated carboxylic acid (FtUCA), 5:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (FtCA), and C4 to C8 perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs). Two biotransformation products corresponding to singly and doubly oxygenated forms of 6:2 FtTAoS were also identified through high resolution mass spectrometry (MS) analysis and liquid chromatography tandem-MS. An oxidative assay was used to indirectly quantify the total concentration of polyfluorinated compounds and check the mass balance. The assay produced near complete mass recovery of FtTAoS after biotransformation, with 10% (mol/mol) of the amended FtTAoS accounted for in FtS, FtCA, and PFCA products. The transformation rates of identified products appear to be slow relative to FtTAoS, indicating that some intermediates may persist in the environment. This study confirms some of the sources of FtS and PFCAs in groundwater and soil at AFFF-impacted sites and suggests that fluorinated intermediates that are not routinely measured during the biotransformation of PFASs may accumulate.

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Crossref · 10.1021/acs.est.5b01219

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  • 6:2 FTAB and 6:2 FTSA can be further transformed into PFHpA and other short-chain PFCAs in the environment.

    “There are few assessments of human and ecological risks associated with 6:2 FTAB and 6:2 FTSA, but these compounds can be further transformed into PFHpA and other short-chain PFCAs in the environment (Harding-Marjanovic et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2011).”

    From Biotransformation of perfluoroalkyl acid precursors from various environmental systems: advances and perspectives (2021) · cites this paper as Harding-Marjanovic et al., 2015

    The FtTAoS Biotransformation Pathways section reports that 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (FtS) can produce shorter-chain PFCAs, including PFHxA and PFPeA. It instead identifies PFHpA as a likely product of 8:2 FtS biotransformation. The paper studies FtTAoS, not 6:2 FTAB, so it does not establish the claimed transformation for FTAB. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Some fluorotelomers transform without forming intermediate FTOHs.

    “Although some fluorotelomers evidently transform without forming intermediate FTOHs (9, 22, 49, 59)”

    From Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the environment (2022) · cites this paper as [49]

  • FtTAoS, a component of AFF foams, was biodegraded into 6:2 FTSA, saturated and unsaturated carboxylic acids (6:2 PFUCA and 5:3 PFCA) and terminal C4-C8 PFCAs such as PFBA, PFHxA and PFPeA in an aerobic system with AFFF-contaminated soil microcosm.

    “Fluorotelomer thioether amido sulfonate (FtTAoS), a component of AFF foams, was biodegraded into 6:2 FTSA, satu- rated and unsaturated carboxylic acids (6:2 PFUCA and 5:3 PFCA) and ter- minal C4 - C8 PFCAs such as PFBA, PFHxA and PFPeA in an aerobic system with AFFF-contaminated soil microcosm (Table 3 and Fig. 4) (Harding-Marjanovic et al., 2015).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [7]7. Moody, C. A.; Hebert, G. N.; Strauss, S. H.; Field, J. A. Occurrence and persistence of perfluorooctanesulfonate and other perfluorinated surfactants in groundwater at a fire-training area at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, USA J. Environ. Monit. 2003, 5, 341-345 [Crossref], [PubMed], [CAS]
  2. [11]11. Backe, W. J.; Christensen, K. E.; Field, J. A. Newly-identified cationic, anionic, and zwitterionic fluorinated chemicals in groundwater at U.S. Military bases by non-aqueous large-volume injection HPLC-MS/MSEnviron. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 5226-5234 [ACS Full Text ], [CAS]
  3. [21]21. Wang, N.; Szostek, B.; Buck, R. C.; Folsom, P. W.; Sulecki, L. M.; Capka, V.; Berti, W. R.; Gannon, J. T.Fluorotelomer alcohol biodegradation -Direct evidence that perfluorinated chains breakdown Environ. Sci. Technol. 2005, 39, 7516-7528 [ACS Full Text ], [CAS]

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Authors
Harding-Marjanovic, K. C., Houtz, E. F., Yi, S., Field, J. A., Sedlak, D. L., & Alvarez-Cohen, L.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • Oregon State University (US)
  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
Venue
Environmental Science & Technology
Published
2015-06-23
Volume
49
Issue
13
Pages
7666-7674
ISSN
  • 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
  • 1520-5851
OpenAlex
W1422819559
Cited by
295
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 1
FWCI
11.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Department of Defense (ER-2128)
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 › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
Keywords
aqueous film-forming foam, aerobic biotransformation, fluorotelomer sulfonates, fluorotelomer carboxylic acids, perfluorinated carboxylic acids, biotransformation products, soil microcosms, groundwater contamination
MeSH terms
Aerobiosis, Bacteria, Biotransformation, Carbon, Carboxylic Acids, Chromatography, Liquid, Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated, Organic Chemicals, Oxidation-Reduction, Water, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Halogenation

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