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 - Vogel, Christian T1 - Combining DGT and combustion ion chromatography (CIC) as screening tool for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in wastewater-based fertilizers N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of organofluorine surfactants used in the formulations of thousands of consumer goods. The continuous use of PFAS in household products and the discharge of PFAS from industrial plants into the sewer system have been resulted in contaminated effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) which became an important pathway for PFAS into the environment. Because sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer its application on agricultural soils has been observed as significant input path for PFAS into our food chain. To produce high-quality phosphorus fertilizers for a circular economy from sewage sludge, PFAS and other pollutants (e.g. pesticides and pharmaceuticals) must be separated from sewage sludge. Normally, PFAS are analyzed using PFAS protocols typically with time-consuming extraction steps and LC-MS/MS target quantification. However, for screening of PFAS contaminations in wastewater-based fertilizers also the DGT technique can be used for the PFAS extraction. Afterwards, combustion ion chromatography (CIC) can be applied to analyze the “total” amount of PFAS on the DGT binding layer. The DGT method was less sensitive and only comparable to the extractable organic fluorine (EOF) method values of the fertilizers in samples with >150 µg/kg, because of different diffusion properties for various PFAS, but also kinetic exchange limitations. However, the DGT approach has the advantage that almost no sample preparation is necessary. Moreover, the PFAS adsorption on the DGT binding layer was investigated via surface sensitive spectroscopical methods, such as Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and fluorine K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. T2 - DGT Konferenz CY - Paris, France DA - 11.10.2023 KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Sewage sludge PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58575 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zweigle, J. A1 - Schmidt, A. A1 - Bugsel, B. A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Zwiener, C. T1 - Perfluoroalkyl acid precursor or weakly fluorinated organic compound? A proof of concept for oxidative fractionation of PFAS and organofluorines N2 - Organofluorine mass balance approaches are increasingly applied to investigate the occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other organofluorines in environmental samples more comprehensively. Usually, complex samples prevent the identification and quantification of every fluorine-containing molecule. Consequently, large unidentified fractions between fluorine sum parameters such as extractable organic fluorine (EOF) and the sum of quantified analytes are frequently reported. We propose using oxidative conversion to separate (unidentified) weakly fluorinated compounds (e.g., pesticides, pharmaceuticals) from PFAA-precursors (perfluoroalkyl chain lengths ≥ C6). We show with three organofluorine model substances (flufenamic acid, diflufenican, pantoprazole) that CF3-groups or aromatic fluorine can be quantitatively converted to inorganic fluoride and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) by applying PhotoTOP oxidation (UV/TiO2). The principle of fluorine separation in mixtures is demonstrated by the oxidation of the three weakly fluorinated compounds together with the PFAA-precursor 6:2/6:2 fluorotelomer mercaptoalkyl phosphate diester (FTMAP). After oxidation, the products F− and TFA were separated from PFCAs ( C4) by SPE, and the fractions were analyzed individually. Closed mass balances both with and without the addition of organic matrix were achieved. Eventually, the fluorine balance was verified by total fluorine measurements with combustion ion chromatography (CIC). The proposed methods should be considered a proof of concept to potentially explain unidentified fractions of the EOF, especially if compounds with low fluorine content such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and their transformation products contribute largely to the EOF. Future studies are needed to show the applicability to the complexity of environmental samples. Graphical Abstract KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-613429 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05590-5 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-61342 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Wittwer, Philipp A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Riedel, Maren A1 - Leube, Peter A1 - Kalbe, Ute A1 - Schoknecht, Ute A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Ski Waxes and Snow from Cross-Country Skiing in Germany - Comparative study of Sum Parameter and Target Analysis N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are often environmentally exposed via discharge through human consumer products, such as ski waxes. In our study we analyzed various ski waxes from the 1980s and 2020s, to determine both the sum parameter values total fluorine (TF), extractable organically bound fluorine (EOF), hydrolysable organically bound fluorine (HOF) as well as targeted PFAS analysis. This showed that modern high-performance waxes contain up to 6 % TF, but also PFAS-free labelled ski waxes contain traces of PFAS with EOF/HOF values in the low mg kg-1 range. With the ban of all fluorine-based waxes with the start of the 2023/2024 winter season this will probably change soon. Moreover, we applied our analysis methods to snow samples from a frequently used cross country ski trail (Kammloipe) in the Ore Mountain region in Germany, assessing the potential PFAS entry/discharge through ski waxes. Melted snow samples from different spots were analyzed by the adsorbable organically bound fluorine (AOF) sum parameter and PFAS target analysis and confirmed the abrasion of the ski waxes into the snow. Moreover, on a PFAS hotspot also soil samples were analyzed, which indicate that PFAS from the ski waxes adsorb after snow melting into the soil. KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Consumer Products PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-612760 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazadv.2024.100484 VL - 16 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-61276 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wittwer, Philipp A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Simon, Fabian A1 - Gehrenkemper, Lennart A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Less Is More: Influence of Cross-Linking Agent Concentration on PFOS Adsorption in Chitosan N2 - As a result of the continuous use of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), e.g., in aviation firefighting foams, contamination with PFAS has been found in soil, groundwater, and surface water around thousands of industrial and military installations. Due to their harmful (environmental) potential, further dispersion in the environment needs to be stopped, which can be achieved by appropriate absorption materials. In this work, the influence of the cross-linking agent epichlorohydrin (ECH) concentration on the perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) adsorption capacity of chitosan gel was investigated. It was found that higher ECH concentration during the cross-linking step decreases the PFOS adsorption capacity of the cross-linked chitosan gel from 0% to 4% ECH solution by about 15%. Using a concentration of 1%, ECH resulted still in an acid-stable material, and a maximum PFOS loading capacity of 4.04 mmol/g was obtained, one of the highest described in the literature. Furthermore, we used a rapid small-scale column test to compare the PFOS adsorption capacity of chitosan and activated carbon, each in both milled and unmilled form. Unmilled chitosan showed the highest PFOS adsorption capacity considering adsorption material dry masses (>0.9 and <0.4 mmol/g for both types of chitosan and activated carbon, respectively). Milled activated carbon proved to be the better adsorption material, considering the fixed volume of the adsorber (>99.9% PFOS adsorbed). Overall, the cross-linking agent concentration in chitosan is a crucial factor influencing its PFOS absorption potential. Our results feature cross-linked chitosan as an effective economic and ecologic alternative for PFOS adsorption in aqueous solutions. KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Remediation PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-618406 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/app142311145 VL - 14 IS - 23 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-61840 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -