Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are class of thousands of synthetic fluorinated organic chemicals that have unique beneficial chemical and mechanical attributes including chemical and thermal stability. Thus, they have been used in a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications including aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs). Use of AFFFs by firefighters to extinguish hydrocarbon fires tends to contaminate water and soil with PFAS near application sites. Furthermore, several groups of PFAS have been detected in the blood serum of firefighters that have been exposed to AFFFs. Exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. Although dermal exposure may be one route for their presence in the serum, inhalation of volatile PFAS could be another major contributor, however, less is known about the volatile PFAS released by AFFFs. The primary objective of this study is to determine the presence of volatile PFAS in the headspace of AFFF concentrates.  We investigated the presence of volatile PFAS in the headspace above agitated AFFF using two analytical techniques. One method utilized polyurethane foam and XAD resin with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to quantify 30 PFAS. A second, more exploratory approach used a thermal desorption sampler and gas chromatography mass spectrometry to measure 22 PFAS.  16 PFAS were detected in the headspace including 5 fluorotelomer alcohols (1.1 to 38.1 ng/L), 10 perfluorinatedperflourinated carboxylic acids (1.2 to 13,668 ng/L) and 1 fluorotelomer sulfonate (72.1 ng/L). The most abundant PFAS detected in the headspace was perfluorooctanoic acid (13,668 ng/L). Additionally, a total of five saturated, iodinated, and ethenyl fluorocarbons were identified, which may be derived in the AFFF manufacturing process as precursors to other PFAS. The results of this research provide novel information about identity, concentration and rate of volatile PFAS released by AFFFs concentrates.

Volatile per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances released from aqueous film-forming foam

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.