TY - CONF A1 - Piechotta, Christian T1 - Development, Validation and Application of an Accelerated Weathering Protocol for Assessing Bisphenol A Release from Polycarbonate Materials into the environment N2 - Bisphenol A (BPA) is under continuous regulatory scrutiny and listed as substance of very high concern (SVHC). Particular concern is related to its frequent detection in surface waters, despite being readily biodegradable. Several studies have been conducted to investigate sources and pathways of BPA in the environment, concluding that its main use as monomer in polycarbonate (PC) contributes only marginally to environmental BPA releases over its life cycle. To better understand the actual releases of BPA from PC under environmental conditions, a newly developed methodology (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, BAM) was applied, which comprises a novel accelerated weathering protocol for polycarbonate (PC) materials, combined with an advanced analytical setup allowing for improved detection of BPA at trace level concentrations. The weathering protocol achieves a 13.6-fold acceleration compared to Central European outdoor conditions and simulates environmental stressors (global radiation, rain, temperature variations) in a laboratory weathering chamber, with simultaneous BPA release measurements using an organic isotope dilution calibration LC-MS/MS approach. Validation was performed in parallel outdoor exposure tests, by using haze and yellowness index measurements as reference parameters. PC sample types representative of major polycarbonate applications were examined: Samples with different levels of UV-protection as used in transparent sheets used outdoor in construction or housings in Electro- and Electronic applications as well as samples with a protective coating as used in automotive applications (headlamps, glazing and construction). Results demonstrated consistently low total BPA releases of around 0.3 mg m⁻² for samples with exposed PC surfaces, while releases from coated samples were significantly reduced by around two orders of magnitude. In all cases examined, the BPA release ceased to zero after a period of four to six weeks, equivalent to approximately 1 to 1.5 years of outdoor exposure. This suggests that potential BPA releases diminish to virtually zero after that timespan. While the newly developed test method is not suitable for routine laboratory implementation, it provides crucial quantitative data on BPA release from PC materials during accelerated environmental weathering. T2 - Umwelt 2025 CY - Dessau, Germany DA - 22.09.2025 KW - Bisphenol A KW - Polycarbonate KW - Weathering PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64664 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Vogel, Christian T1 - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Sewage Sludge and Wastewater-based Fertilizers N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals which were developed to improve humanity’s quality of life. Due to their high chemical stability and resistance to degradation by heat or acids, PFAS were used in a variety of consumer products. The continuous use of PFAS in household products and the discharge of PFAS from industrial plants into the sewer system resulted in the contamination of effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (Roesch et al. 2022). Since sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer, its application on agricultural soils has been observed as a significant entry path for PFAS into the environment, specifically in our food chain. In Germany the sewage sludge/biosolid application on agricultural land was banned with the amendment of the German Sewage Sludge Ordinance and by 2029 sewage sludge application will be totally prohibited. However, phosphorus (P) from sewage sludge should still be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a population larger than 50,000 residents. To produce high-quality P-fertilizers for a circular economy, PFAS and other pollutants (e.g. pesticides and pharmaceuticals) must be separated from sewage sludge. Due to the strong diversity of industrial PFAS usage it is not clear if a safe application of novel recycled P-fertilizers from WWTPs can be guaranteed. Therefore, we analyzed various sewage sludges and wastewater-based fertilizers. Sewage sludge (SL) samples from various WWTPs in Germany and Switzerland, six sewage sludge ashes (SSA) from Germany, six thermally treated SL and SSA samples with different additives (temperatures: 700-1050 °C), two pyrolyzed SL samples (temperature: 400 °C) and two struvite samples from Germany and Canada were analyzed. The goal was to quantify PFAS in sewage sludges and wastewater-based P-fertilizers with the sum parameter extractable organic fluorine (EOF) by combustion ion chromatography (CIC). The results were compared with data from classical LC-MS/MS target analysis as well as selected samples by HR-MS suspect screening. The EOF values of the SLs mainly range between 154 and 538 µg/kg except for one SL which showed an elevated EOF value of 7209 µg/kg due to high organofluorine contamination. For the SSA samples the EOF values were lower and values between LOQ (approx. 60 µg/kg) and 121 µg/kg could be detected. For the pyrolyzed SLs no EOF values above the LOQ were detected. Moreover, the two wastewater-based struvite fertilizers contain 96 and 112 µg/kg EOF, respectively. In contrast to the EOF values, the sum of PFAS target values were relatively low for all SLs. Additional applied PFAS HR-MS suspect screening aimed to tentatively identify PFAS that could contribute to the hitherto unknown part of the EOF value. The majority of the detected fluorinated compounds are legacy PFAS such as short- and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCA), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSA), polyfluoroalkyl phosphate esters (PAPs) and perfluorophosphonic acids (PFPA). Moreover, fluorinated pesticides, pharmaceutical as well as aromatic compounds were also identified, which are all included in the EOF parameter. Our research revealed that the current PFAS limit of 100 µg/kg for the sum of PFOS + PFOA in the German Fertilizer Ordinance is no longer up to date. Since the number of known PFAS already exceeds 10,000, the ordinance limit should be updated accordingly. Recent regulations and restrictions on using long-chain PFAS (≥C8) have resulted in a significant shift in the industry towards (ultra-)short-chain alternatives, and other, partly unknown, emerging PFAS. Ultimately, also fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals, which end up as ultrashort PFAS in the WWTPs, have to be considered as possible pollutants in fertilizers from wastewater, too. T2 - Dioxin Konferenz CY - Maastricht, Netherlands DA - 10.09.2023 KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Sewage sludge KW - Fertilizer PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58345 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Susset, Bernd A1 - Kalbe, Ute T1 - Spezifische Herausforderungen bei der PFAS-Elution N2 - Im Teil des Workshops, der sich mit Praxiserfahrungen zu den Elutionsverfahren DIN 19528 und DIN 19529 befasste, wurden spezifische Herausforderungen bei Elutionsuntersuchungen von Bodenproben mit einer PFAS-Kontamination vorgestellt. Aus durchgeführten Robustheitsuntersuchungen im ZAG der Universität Tübingen sowie in der BAM wurden praxisrelevante Schlussfolgerungen erläutert und für einzelne PFAS-Verbindungen und Vorläufersubstanzen konkretisiert. Dabei wurde auch auf die Vergleichbarkeit von Schüttel- und Säulenversuchen beim bewertungsrelevanten Wasser/Feststoff-Verhältnis von 2 l/kg und die Bedeutung des Fest/Flüssigtrennschrittes beim Schüttelverfahren eingegangen. Die Untersuchung von Böden auf PFAS mit Elutionsversuchen ist generell möglich, aber es besteht eine komplexe Abhängigkeit der Konzentrationen im Eluat vom Gesamtgehalt, der Löslichkeit und des Verteilungsmusters der einzelnen PFAS, der Art der Bodenmatrix und dem Einfluss der Probenaufbereitung vor der Analytik. Die geringere Sensitivität der Feststoffanalytik für PFAS im Vergleich zur Eluatanalytik erschwert die Berechnung von Massenbilanzen. T2 - Workshop / Anwendertreffen Elutionsverfahren im Regelungsbereich der Mantelverordnung (ErsatzbaustoffV / BBodSchV) und der EU-BauPVO CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 07.05.2024 KW - Elution KW - PFAS KW - Prekursoren KW - Boden KW - Säulenversuch KW - Schüttelversuch PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62065 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -