Abstract
Landfill leachate is exposed to sunlight through on- and off-site leachate treatment and disposal to surface water bodies. Very little is known about the potential phototransformation of fluorotelomer compounds in landfill leachates, which can undergo environmental oxidation and produce perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs). This study investigated phototransformation of spiked 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate (FTS) (∼ 100 μg/L) in leachate under simulated sunlight, using a metal halide lamp (wavelength, 390 to 750 nm). To understand the effects of nitrate and humic acid (HA), phosphate buffer (pH 7.1) containing nitrate and HA were spiked with 6:2 FTS and irradiated under simulated sunlight for 72 h. Following irradiation, 6:2 FTS and known transformation products (i.e., PFCAs) were quantified in the samples using LC-MS/MS. The results showed that 6:2 FTS was undergoing indirect photolysis in leachate (half-life of ∼ 15 days), suggesting that indirect photolysis of 6:2 FTS is likely a relevant transformation pathway in sunlit aquatic environments. However, the spiked 6:2 FTS did not show any observable decrease in the presence of nitrate and HA over 72 h. Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) increased in irradiated leachate background samples (without 6:2 FTS spike) suggesting that phototransformation in sunlit leachate could lead to the formation of persistent PFCAs at environmental concentrations of the precursors. Future studies using probe compounds are recommended to better understand the roles of reactive species in phototransformation of 6:2 FTS.
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Data availability
The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Curtis Berlinguette of the UBC Chemistry Department for allowing to use the simulated sunlight soaking chamber.
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge scholarships to Hanna Hamid from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC, CGSD3-475849-2015) and The Schlumberger Foundation, Faculty for the Future fellowship program. We acknowledge financial assistance from the NSERC to Drs. Loretta Li (RGPIN 185040-13, RGPIN 2018-03832) and John Grace (RGPIN 7111-11, RGPIN 7111-16).
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HH conceptualized and planned the study, performed the experiments and data analysis, and prepared the original draft of the manuscript. LL supervised the study, acquired funding, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. JG supervised the study, acquired funding, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Hamid, H., Li, L.Y. & Grace, J.R. Exploring indirect photolysis of 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate in landfill leachate under simulated sunlight: effect of humic acid and nitrate. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 9508–9516 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11417-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11417-4