EtFOSA and its related compounds have been found to be common components of aqueous film forming foams and ingredients in insecticides such as sulframid. There has been a growing concern over these compounds and how they can be effectively remediated. Biological transformation in aerobic soil microcosms have been observed. However, the enzymatic mechanism for this has not been determined although there is a growing interest in the role of oxygenase enzymes. This study uses mixed cultures of commonly occurring bacteria consortia, methanotrophs and ammonia oxidizing bacteria, that may be present in aerobic soils and also have oxygenases that could potentially degrade EtFOSA. The goal of this research is to determine possible enzymatic pathways for the observed degradation of EtFOSA using bottle studies. These bottle studies were conducted using growth media, EtFOSA, and active cells from each mixed culture  combined in sterile sealed serum bottles. Controls consisted of autoclaved cells with EtFOSA, live cells without EtFOSA, and media with only EtFOSA (no cells) to evaluate matrix effects. The studies were lasted for 2 weeks to allow for sufficient growth of the cultures and production of the appropriate enzymes. Bottles were sacrificed and methanol added for the dual purpose of stopping biological activity and total extraction of the EtFOSA. The extracts are analyzed using LC-MS-MS and targeted analysis for EtFOSA and perfluorinated products and intermediates identified with non-targeted analysis using a quadrupole time of flight high resolution mass spectrometer (QTOF-HRMS).  The experiments are on-going and results will be available by the conference.

Biological transformation of N-ethyl perfluoroocatne sulfonamide (EtFOSA) by monooxygenases

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ACS Fall 2022

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