scholarly journals The High Persistence of PFAS is Sufficient for their Management as a Chemical Class

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Cousins ◽  
Jamie C. DeWitt ◽  
Rainer Lohmann ◽  
Juliane Glüge ◽  
Gretta Goldenman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Transformation Products ◽  
Organic Substances ◽  
Contaminated Land ◽  
Chemicals Regulation ◽  
Metabolic Degradation ◽  
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ◽  
Chemical Class ◽  
High Diversity

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic organic substances with diverse structures, properties, uses, bioaccumulation potentials and toxicities. Despite this high diversity, all PFAS are alike in that they contain perfluoroalkyl moieties that are extremely resistant to environmental and metabolic degradation. PFAS are therefore either non-degradable or transform ultimately into stable terminal transformation products (which are still PFAS). Under the European chemicals regulation this classifies all PFAS as very persistent substances (vP). We argue that this high persistence is sufficient concern for their management as a chemical class, and for all “non-essential” uses of PFAS to be phased out. The continual release of highly persistent PFAS will result in increasing concentrations and increasing probabilities of the occurrence of known and unknown effects. Once adverse effects are identified the exposure and associated effects will not be easily reversible. Reversing PFAS contamination will be technically challenging, energy intensive, and costly for society, as is evident in the efforts to remove PFAS from contaminated land and drinking water.

scholarly journals The high persistence of PFAS is sufficient for their management as a chemical class

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 2307-2312
Author(s):  
Ian T. Cousins ◽  
Jamie C. DeWitt ◽  
Juliane Glüge ◽  
Gretta Goldenman ◽  
Dorte Herzke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Substances ◽  
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ◽  
Chemical Class

While per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic organic substances with diverse structures, properties, uses, bioaccumulation potentials and toxicities, nearly all PFAS are highly persistent.

scholarly journals Persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) substances pose an equivalent level of concern to persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) substances under REACH

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Hale ◽  
Hans Peter H. Arp ◽  
Ivo Schliebner ◽  
Michael Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Regulatory Decision ◽  
Drinking Water Resources ◽  
Trade Name ◽  
Chemicals Regulation ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
High Concern ◽  
Level Of Concern

Abstract Background Under the EU chemicals regulation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals EC 1907/2006), registrants are not obliged to provide information related to intrinsic substance properties for substances that pose a threat to the drinking water resources. In 2019, perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(heptafluoropropoxy)-propanoic acid (HFPO-DA trade name GenX) were demonstrated to have an equivalent level of concern (ELoC) to persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (PBT/vPvB) substances owing to their persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) substance properties and very persistent and very mobile (vPvM) substance properties, respectively. They were both subsequently identified as substances of very high concern (SVHC) applying Article 57(f) in REACH. This work follows up on this regulatory decision by presenting a science based, conceptual level comparison that all PMT/vPvM substances pose an ELoC to PBT/vPvB substances. Using the two cases named above, as well as 1,4-dioxane, 16 categories were developed to evaluate a) serious effects on human health, b) serious effects on the environment and c) additional effects. 1,4-dioxane has recently been proposed to be classified as Carcinogenic 1B by the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC). The aim was to enable an objective and scientifically justified conclusion that these classes of substances have an equivalent level of concern for the environment and human health. Results In all of the categories related to human health, the environment and other effects, the PMT/vPvM case study substances exhibited comparable effects to PBT/vPvB substances. A difference in the human and environmental exposure pathways of PMT/vPvM and PBT/vPvB substances exists as they vary temporally and spatially. However, effects and impacts are similar, with PMT/vPvM substances potentially accumulating in (semi-)closed drinking water cycles and pristine aquatic environments, and PBT/vPvB substances accumulating in humans and the food chain. Both PMT/vPvM and PBT/vPvB substances share the common difficulty that long term and long-range transport and risk of exposure is very difficult to determine in advance and with sufficient accuracy. Conclusion The registration process of substances under REACH should reflect that PMT/vPvM substances pose an equivalent level of concern to PBT/vPvB substances.

scholarly journals Omnipresent distribution of herbicides and their transformation products in all water body types of an agricultural landscape in the North German Lowland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Ulrich ◽  
Matthias Pfannerstill ◽  
Guido Ostendorp ◽  
Nicola Fohrer
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Oxalic Acid ◽  
Water Body ◽  
Sulfonic Acid ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Parent Compound ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Transformation Products ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Rainfall Events

AbstractThe research of the environmental fate of pesticides has demonstrated that applied compounds are altered in their molecular structure over time and are distributed within the environment. To assess the risk for contamination by transformation products (TP) of the herbicides flufenacet and metazachlor, the following four water body types were sampled in a small-scale catchment of 50 km2 in 2015/2016: tile drainage water, stream water, shallow groundwater, and drinking water of private wells. The TP were omnipresent in every type of water body, more frequently and in concentrations up to 10 times higher than their parent compounds. Especially metazachlor sulfonic acid, metazachlor oxalic acid, and flufenacet oxalic acid were detected in almost every drainage and stream sample. The transformation process leads to more mobile and more persistent molecules resulting in higher detection frequencies and concentrations, which can even occur a year or more after the application of the parent compound. The vulnerability of shallow groundwater and private drinking water wells to leaching compounds is proved by numerous positives of metazachlor-TP with maximum concentrations of 0.7 μg L−1 (drinking water) and 20 μg L−1 (shallow groundwater) of metazachlor sulfonic acid. Rainfall events during the application period cause high discharge of the parent compound and lower release of TP. Later rainfall events lead to high displacement of TP. For an integrated risk assessment of water bodies, the environmental behavior of pesticide-TP has to be included into regular state-of-the-art water quality monitoring.

Bank filtration: a suitable process for the removal of iodinated X-ray contrast media?

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schittko ◽  
A. Putschew ◽  
M. Jekel
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Contrast Media ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Transformation Products ◽  
Bank Filtration ◽  
Anoxic Conditions ◽  
X Ray ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Media Concentration

After bank filtration, effluent influenced surface waters are often used as raw drinking water. It is known that high concentrations of iodinated X-ray contrast media are detectable in such surface waters and thus, more knowledge about the behaviour of the contrast media during bank filtration is necessary and the subject of investigations in this study. The adsorbable organic iodine (AOI), four widely used iodinated X-ray contrast media and four possible transformation products were quantified in an influenced lake, five groundwater wells and a drinking water well. Under anoxic conditions the AOI as well as the concentration of the contrast media are decreased by bank filtration, whereby the AOI is decreased by 64% and the contrast media concentration can be reduced up to 95%, depending on the compound. In the raw drinking water the following average concentrations were determined: Iopromid <20 ng/L, Diatrizote 166 ng/L, Iopamidol 166 ng/L and Iohexol 34 ng/L. Instationary conditions during the sampling period indicate that, at least under anoxic conditions, a large part of the contrast media and transformation products, which are still iodinated, may be associated to colloids and/or humic material.

scholarly journals Immunotoxicity of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Insights into Short-Chain PFAS Exposure

Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Tracey Woodlief ◽  
Samuel Vance ◽  
Qing Hu ◽  
Jamie DeWitt
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Nk Cell ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Oral Exposure ◽  
Body Weights ◽  
Toxicological Data ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ◽  
Compound Exposure ◽  
Control Terminal

Novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were recently identified in drinking water sources throughout North Carolina. These include the perfluoroether acids (PFEAs) perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid (PFMOAA), perfluoro-2-methoxypropanoic acid (PFMOPrA), and perfluoro-4-methoxybutanioc acid (PFMOBA). Little toxicological data exist for these PFEAs. Therefore, the present study described signs of toxicity and immunotoxicity following oral exposure. Adult male and female C57BL/6 mice were exposed once/day for 30 days to PFMOAA (0, 0.00025, 0.025, or 2.5 mg/kg), PFMOPrA, or PFMOBA (0, 0.5, 5, or 50 mg/kg). A dose of 7.5 mg/kg of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was used as a positive control. Terminal body weights, and absolute liver, spleen, or thymus weights did not differ by dose for any compound; exposure to 50 mg/kg of PFMOBA increased relative liver weights in males. Changes in splenic cellularity were observed in males exposed to PFMOPrA and decreased numbers of B and natural killer (NK) cells were observed in males and females exposed to PFMOBA. Exposure did not alter NK cell cytotoxicity or T cell-dependent antibody responses at doses administered. Our results indicate that these “understudied” PFAS have toxicological potential but require additional investigation across endpoints and species, including humans, to understand health effects via drinking water exposure.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of point‐of‐use/point‐of‐entry systems to remove per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances from drinking water

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. e1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Patterson ◽  
Jonathan Burkhardt ◽  
Donald Schupp ◽  
E. Radha Krishnan ◽  
Stephen Dyment ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Point Of Entry ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
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