Contamination of perfluorooctane sulfonated (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in air

Abstract

PFOS and PFOA are widely used in industrial and commercial products. There are consisting of (C-F bonds) with a sulfonated group and carboxylic group, which make its persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. PFOS and PFOA are introduced into environment by several processes such as wastewater, leaching from consumer products or dust during production process. The analytical procedure for determination in ambient air which collected monthly during 2010-2012 in 4 provinces, Thailand, were performed using ASE, SPE and HPLC-MS/MS. The results show that concentration of PFOS was higher than PFOA ranging between 0.44-6.75 ng/g and 0.23-0.46 ng/g, respectively. Trends of distribution were founded dominantly in TSP particles of PFOS 0.74-6.75 ng/g and PFOA 0.20-0.35 ng/g, while PM10 was found lower in ranges 0.41-0.51 ng/g and 0.06-0.34 ng/g, respectively. Contamination of PFOS and PFOA in ambient air could be a potential source of human exposure which may cause human health risk for who lives nearby the source.