Fluorine mass balance in wildlife and consumer products : How much organofluorine are we missing?

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of anthropogenic pollutants. Many PFASs are highly persistent and have been linked to adverse effects in humans. According to latest estimates, there are more than 4700 PFASs in global commerce, which poses immense challenges for environmental monitoring. This thesis aims at the development, validation and application of total fluorine (TF) and extractable organic fluorine (EOF) methods to consumer products and wildlife in order to estimate the fraction of unidentified organic fluorine in these samples via fluorine mass balance calculations.Fluoropolymer-coated food packaging materials and reference materials were used in paper I to validate and compare the performance of three different TF methods. Combustion ion chromatography (CIC), particle-induced gamma ray emission spectroscopy (PIGE) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) revealed excellent analytical agreement and precision under most circumstances. PIGE and INAA had the advantage of being non-destructive, while CIC was favored due to low detection limits. Fluorine mass balance experiments indicated large amounts of unidentified EOF and non-extractable fluorine. Paper II investigated the occurrence of PFASs, EOF and TF in cosmetic products from the Swedish market. In addition to extremely high concentrations (up to 470 µg/g) of polyfluoroalkyl phosphate diesters (diPAPs; perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) precursors), unintentionally-added PFAAs were found in a number of products, together with large amounts of unidentified organic fluorine. Human exposure estimates for perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) using the latest dermal uptake coefficients revealed that PFAA exposure via cosmetics may be significant. Paper III evaluated time trends of PFASs, EOF and TF in Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) from 1981 to 2013. Increasing trends were observed for the predominant PFAS perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), as well as for C9-C12 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) at rates of up to 7.7% per year. Declining concentrations were detected for the PFOS precursor perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), the EOF and its fraction not accounted for by target PFASs, while TF did not show any significant trends. The increasing concentrations of PFAAs despite their production phase-out could be attributed to either direct exposure of cod to legacy PFAAs or to indirect exposure via PFAA-precursor metabolism. Furthermore, negative correlations of certain PFASs with liver somatic index and body length were observed, which play an important role in the under-standing of toxicological effects of PFASs on wildlife. Paper IV studied the distribution of PFASs, EOF and TF in tissues from a Greenland killer whale (Orcinus orca). The sum of target PFAS concentrations was highest in liver (339 ng/g) and lowest in blubber (9.4 ng/g), consistent with other tissue distribution studies in marine mammals. In contrast, TF and EOF concentrations were highest in blubber (1315 and 229 ng/g, respectively), suggesting the presence of high concentrations of one or more presently unidentified fluorinated compounds. With the help of high resolution mass spectrometry-based suspect screening, several PFAS homologue series and individual PFASs not included in target analysis were detected.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

PFASs

PFOS

fluorine mass balance

organofluorine

EOF

TF

wildlife

consumer products

combustion ion chromatography

high resolution mass spectrometry

suspect screening

Applied Environmental Science

tillämpad miljövetenskap

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