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Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Ambient Fine Aerosol (PM2.5) in North Carolina
JIAQI ZHOU, Karsten Baumann, Jason Surratt, Ralph Mead, Stephen Skrabal, Robert Kieber, Gene Avery, Megumi Shimizu, Wanda Bodnar, Zhenfa Zhang, Jamie DeWitt, Mei Sun, Leonard Collins, Barbara Turpin, UNC-Chapel Hill
Abstract Number: 130
Working Group: Remote and Regional Atmospheric Aerosol
Abstract
While per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), especially legacy compounds, have been measured in ambient air in urban and rural environments at several locations globally, PFASs concentrations, source contributions and atmospheric transformations remain poorly understood. North Carolina (NC) is a good place to study these, given the existence of a fluoropolymer and specialty chemicals manufacturing plant (Chemours) and large military bases, as well as more typical sources of environmental PFASs contamination (e.g., fluorinated fire-fighting foam use, urban waste streams). In addition to ingestion of PFASs as a result of direct contamination of drinking water supplies via atmospheric deposition, potential human exposure to PFASs occurs also through inhalation. For these reasons, we initiated a one-year sampling campaign involving 5 NC locations and seasonally-composited 6-day duration ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) samples collected on pre-baked quartz fiber filters downstream of a multiple-jet 2.5 mm cut-point impactor. Quarterly composited samples were analyzed for 34 targeted PFASs by LC-MS/MS on an AB SCIEX Triple Quad™ 6500 mass spectrometer system. In all, 7 PFASs were above detection limits (perfluoro-n-octanoic acid (PFOA), sodium perfluoro-1-octanesulfonate (PFOS), sodium perfluoro-1-heptanesulfonate (PFHpS), perfluoro-n-dodecanoic acid (PFDoA), perfluoro-n-heptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluoro-n-undecanoic acid (PFUnA), ethanesulfonic acid, 2-[1-[difluoro(1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy)methyl]-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy]-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro- (Nafion BP2)) and mostly below 1 pg/m3 in respirable PM2.5. PFOA and PFOS were most frequency detected. Elevated PFOA and PFOS concentrations were observed in warmer months at Charlotte (14.1 pg/m3 for PFOA) and Wilmington (4.75 pg/m3 for PFOS), respectively. Concentrations will be placed in context and plausible explanations for the elevated concentrations will be discussed.