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Aerobic biodegradation of 2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide–based aqueous film–forming foam components produces perfluoroalkyl carboxylates
Author(s) -
D'Agostino Lisa A.,
Mabury Scott A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.3750
Subject(s) - biodegradation , chemistry , sulfonamide , activated sludge , aqueous solution , carboxylic acid , degradation (telecommunications) , sulfonate , organic chemistry , chromatography , environmental chemistry , sewage treatment , waste management , telecommunications , sodium , computer science , engineering
The biodegradation of 2 common fluorotelomer surfactants used in aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs), 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide alkylamine (FTAA) and 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide alkylbetaine (FTAB), was investigated over 109 d with aerobic wastewater‐treatment plant (WWTP) sludge. Results show that biodegradation of 6:2 FTAA and 6:2 FTAB produces 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (FTOH), 6:2 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (FTCA), 6:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated carboxylic acid (FTUCA), 5:3 FTCA, and short‐chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs). Additional degradation products included 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonamide (FTSAm), which was a major degradation product in the presence of either active or sterilized sludge, whereas 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (FTSA) production was measured with sterilized sludge only. Six additional degradation products were tentatively identified by quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (qTOF‐MS) and attributed to N ‐dealkylation and oxidation of 6:2 FTAA. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2012–2021. © 2017 SETAC