Closing the Mass Balance on Poly and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) using Combustion Ion Chromatog
Abstract
Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination of soils, sediments, and waters is an issue at hundreds of Department of Def,ense (DoD) sites due to the historic use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) use to extinguish fuel-based fires. PFAS are a diverse,set of organofluorine surfactants that have gained increased concern across public, regulatory, commercial, and academic sectors due, to a growing body of evidence showing that they are persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative, and represent a potential human, and ecosystem health risk. Many PFAS are also relatively mobile in aqueous systems, which has led to a number of drinking water sou,rces located downstream of some DoD sites to be temporarily abandoned and requiring remediation. Most recently, the anticipated cost, to remediate PFAS at DoD sites is estimated to be upwards of $3 billion. One key capability that is essential to study the environm,ental fate and transport, remediation, treatment, and risks of PFAS is the ability to quantitatively assess all PFAS (including prec,ursors and products) present in a sample. While significant headway has been made in developing analytical methods to measure and de,tect PFAS compounds, quantification of this class of compounds remains challenging due to extensive sample preparation required to m,easure these compounds at trace levels (parts-per-trillion level) in a wide variety of matrices, loss of analytes due to sample proc,essing, and the ability of instrumentation to quantify only certain types of PFAS. Although mass spectrometry methods, such as liqui,d chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), can provide indispensable information on the levels of individual PFAS co,mpounds in a sample, it is difficult to determine if the individual PFAS compounds measured by these methods constitute a minor or m,ajor fraction of all PFAS in the sample. Therefore, in order to complement these mass spectrometry techniques, methods are needed th,at can measure collectively the total PFAS in samples. Since all PFAS compounds contain fluorine, methods capable of measuring total, fluorine quantitatively have been proposed.This proposal aims to support the purchase of a Metrohm Combustion Ion Chromatography (C,IC) system that can measure total fluorine associated with PFAS. CIC is accomplished by combusting liquid or solid samples at high t,emperatures (~ 1100C) under an atmosphere of a carrier gas (e.g., argon) and a combustion gas (e.g., oxygen), which converts halide, or sulfur-containing compounds into dissolvable ions that can be measured on an ion chromatograph via ion conductivity. To date, CI,C has been used to measure total fluorine associated with PFAS in food packaging, cosmetic products, blood serum, various water matr,ices, and soils. I am currently involved in two SERDP-funded projects, one that is assessing the bioaccumulation and bio-uptake of P,FAS in river and stream ecosystems and another that is investigating the use of non-thermal plasma technology for treatment of water, and solid matrices contaminated with PFAS. In addition, I was recently part of a SERDP proposal (currently under review) that aims,to evaluate different technologies in the treatment of PFAS foam concentrates. If awarded, the Metrohm CIC would support these proje,cts, as well as future DoD-supported PFAS research efforts to understand and mitigate the risk from PFAS contamination in the enviro,nment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 13, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212312
Entities
People
- Christopher M. Sales
Organizations
- Drexel University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy