Levels and Seasonal Trends of C1-C4 Perfluoroalkyl Acids and the Discovery of Trifluoromethane Sulfonic Acid in Surface Snow in the ArcticShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Environmental Science and Technology, ISSN 0013-936X, E-ISSN 1520-5851, Vol. 55, no 23, p. 15853-15861Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
C1-C4 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are highly persistent chemicals that have been found in the environment. To date, much uncertainty still exists about their sources and fate. The importance of the atmospheric degradation of volatile precursors to C1-C4 PFAAs were investigated by studying their distribution and seasonal variation in remote Arctic locations. C1-C4 PFAAs were measured in surface snow on the island of Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Arctic during January-August 2019. Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), perfluoropropanoic acid (PFPrA), perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid (TFMS) were detected in most samples, including samples collected at locations presumably receiving PFAA input solely from long-range processes. The flux of TFA, PFPrA, PFBA, and TFMS per precipitation event was in the ranges of 22-1800, 0.79-16, 0.19-170, and 1.5-57 ng/m2, respectively. A positive correlation between the flux of TFA, PFPrA, and PFBA with downward short-wave solar radiation was observed. No correlation was observed between the flux of TFMS and solar radiation. These findings suggest that atmospheric transport of volatile precursors and their subsequent degradation plays a major role in the global distribution of C2-C4 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and their consequential deposition in Arctic environments. The discovery of TFMS in surface snow at these remote Arctic locations suggests that TFMS is globally distributed. However, the transport mechanism to the Arctic environment remains unknown.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2021. Vol. 55, no 23, p. 15853-15861
Keywords [en]
perfluoroalkyl substances, ultrashort-chain perfluoroalkyl acids, trifluoroacetic acid, solar radiation, atmospheric oxidation, atmospheric deposition, precursors, Arctic
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-95441DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c04776ISI: 000758717600030PubMedID: 34779623Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85119963214OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-95441DiVA, id: diva2:1612441
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2016-01284Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2219-16-030 2219-17-012
Note
Funding agencies:
British National Environmental Research Council
Oxford Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental ResearcNE/L002612/1
Burdett-Coutts Trust
Svalbard Science Forum Arctic Field Grant 2019 11121
Research Council of Norway 196218/S30
Fram Centre Flagship program (PharmArctic) 534/75219
Knowledge Foundation (Enforce Research Project) 20160019
2021-11-182021-11-182022-03-09Bibliographically approved