Sorption, Aerobic Biodegradation, and Oxidation Potential of PFOS Alternatives Chlorinated Polyfluoroalkyl Ether Sulfonic Acids
Abstract
Global phase out of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) has led to increasing production of alternatives such as the chlorinated polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acids (Cl-PFESAs) for which little is known on their environmental fate. In this study, sorption by soils, aerobic soil biodegradation, and oxidation potential of 6:2 Cl-PFESA (9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanonane-1-sulfonate) and 8:2 Cl-PFESA (9-chlorooctadecafluoro-3-oxanonane-1-sulfonate) were evaluated. 6:2 Cl-PFESA sorption was quantified for aqueous and acetone/water solutions, whereas 8:2 PFESA could only be accurately measured in acetone/water solutions. The log–linear cosolvency model was applied and validated to estimate sorption of 8:2 Cl-PFESA. Only soil organic carbon (OC, 0.76–4.30%) was highly and positively correlated to sorption of the Cl-PFESAs ( R 2 > 0.96). The resulting log K oc values (OC-normalized sorption coefficients) are 4.01 ± 0.09 ( n = 6) and 5.54 ± 0.05 ( n = 4) L kg –1 for 6:2 Cl-PFESA and 8:2 Cl-PFESA, respectively. Aerobic biodegradation in a loam soil at 24 ± 0.5 °C showed negligible degradation of both Cl-PFESAs. Cl-PFESAs also remained unchanged in an unbuffered heat (50 °C)-activated 42 mM persulfate oxidation treatment. Therefore, Cl-PFESAs are equally recalcitrant as PFOS in addition to being more sorptive, thus with a higher bioaccumulation potential for a similar alkyl chain length.
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Precursors with an ether group are recalcitrant to microbial cleavage.
“Similarly, precursors with an ether group are recalcitrant to microbial cleavage (Chen et al., 2018).”
From Perfluoroalkyl acids on suspended particles: Significant transport pathways in surface runoff, surface waters, and subsurface soils (2021) · cites this paper as Chen et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Chen, H., Choi, Y. J., & Lee, L. S.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Linda S.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2018-08-12
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 9827-9834
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2886107684
- Cited by
- 66
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (1006516)
- DuPont
- China Scholarship Council
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Department of Agronomy, Purdue University
- 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
- PFOS alternatives, sorption, soil organic carbon, cosolvency models, aerobic biodegradation, persulfate oxidation, recalcitrant compounds, bioaccumulation potential, environmental fate
- MeSH terms
- Adsorption, Ether, Ethers, Fluorocarbons, Soil, Soil Pollutants, Sulfonic Acids, Alkanesulfonic Acids
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