TY - JOUR A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Wittwer, Philipp A1 - Piechotta, Christian A1 - Lisec, Jan A1 - Sommerfeld, Thomas A1 - Kluge, Stephanie A1 - Herzel, Hannes A1 - Huthwelker, T. A1 - Borca, C. A1 - Simon, Franz-Georg T1 - Levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in various wastewater-derived fertilizers – analytical investigations from different perspectives JF - Environmental Science: Advances N2 - Solid wastewater-based fertilizers were screened for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by the extractable organic fluorine (EOF) sum parameter method. The EOF values for ten sewage sludges from Germany and Switzerland range from 154 to 7209 mg kg−1. For thermal treated sewage sludge and struvite the EOF were lower with values up to 121 mg kg−1. Moreover, the application of PFAS targeted and suspect screening analysis of selected sewage sludge samples showed that only a small part of the EOF sum parameter values can be explained by the usually screened legacy PFAS. The hitherto unknown part of EOF sum parameter contains also fluorinated pesticides, pharmaceutical and aromatic compounds. Because these partly fluorinated compounds can degrade to (ultra-)short PFAS in wastewater treatment plants they should be considered as significant sources of organic fluorine in the environment. The combined results of sum parameter analysis and suspect screening reveal the need to update current regulations, such as the German fertilizer ordinance, to focus not solely on a few selected PFAS such as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) but consider an additional sum parameter approach as a more holistic alternative. Moreover, diffusion gradient in thin-films (DGT) passive samplers were utilized as an alternative simplified extraction method for PFAS in solid wastewater-based fertilizers and subsequently quantified via combustion ion chromatography. However, the DGT method was less sensitive and only comparable to the EOF values of the fertilizers in samples with >150 mg kg−1, because of different diffusion properties for various PFAS, but also kinetic exchange limitations. KW - Combustion Ion Chromatography KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Sewage sludge KW - Fertilizer PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-583429 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d3va00178d VL - 2 IS - 10 SP - 1436 EP - 1445 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-58342 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ruyle, B. A1 - Pickard, H. A1 - Schultes, L. A1 - Fredriksson, F. A1 - Heffernan, A. A1 - Knappe, D. A1 - Lord, H. A1 - Meng, P. A1 - Mills, M. A1 - Ndungu, K. A1 - Roesch, Philipp A1 - Rundberget, J.T. A1 - Tettenhorst, D. A1 - Van Buren, J. A1 - Vogel, Christian A1 - Westerman, D. A1 - Yeung, L. A1 - Sunderland, E. T1 - Interlaboratory Comparison of Extractable Organofluorine Measurements in Groundwater and Eel (Anguilla rostrata): Recommendations for Methods Standardization JF - Environmental Science and Technology N2 - Research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) frequently incorporates organofluorine measurements, particularly because they could support a class-based approach to regulation. However, standardized methods for organofluorine analysis in a broad suite of matrices are currently unavailable, including a method for extractable organofluorine (EOF) measured using combustion ion chromatography (CIC). Here, we report the results of an international interlaboratory comparison. Seven laboratories representing academia, government, and the private sector measured paired EOF and PFAS concentrations in groundwater and eel (Anguilla rostrata) from a site contaminated by aqueous film-forming foam. Among all laboratories, targeted PFAS could not explain all EOF in groundwater but accounted for most EOF in eel. EOF results from all laboratories for at least one replicate extract fell within one standard deviation of the interlaboratory mean for groundwater and five out of seven laboratories for eel. PFAS spike mixture recoveries for EOF measurements in groundwater and eel were close to the criterion (±30%) for standardized targeted PFAS methods. Instrumental operation of the CIC such as replicate sample injections was a major source of measurement uncertainty. Blank contamination and incomplete inorganic fluorine removal may introduce additional uncertainties. To elucidate the presence of unknown organofluorine using paired EOF and PFAS measurements, we recommend that analysts carefully consider confounding methodological uncertainties such as differences in precision between measurements, data processing steps such as blank subtraction and replicate analyses, and the relative recoveries of PFAS and other fluorine compounds. KW - Extractable organic fluorine KW - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) KW - Combustion ion chromatography (CIC) PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-587726 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c04560 SN - 0013-936X VL - 57 IS - 48 SP - 20159 EP - 20168 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-58772 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -