Urban wastes used as fertilizers contain higher PFAS than livestock
manure

Date:
October 20, 2021
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Because of their useful surfactant properties, per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been massively produced
for non-stick coatings, water-repellant fabrics and firefighting
foams. However, scientists have detected these highly stable
'forever chemicals' throughout the environment, prompting toxicity
concerns. Now, researchers have characterized PFAS in contemporary
and historical organic waste products applied to agricultural
fields in France, finding the highest amounts in urban samples,
with compounds changing over time.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Because of their useful surfactant properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been massively produced for non-stick coatings,
water- repellant fabrics and firefighting foams. However, scientists
have detected these highly stable "forever chemicals" throughout the environment, prompting toxicity concerns. Now, researchers reporting
in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology have characterized PFAS in contemporary and historical organic waste products applied to agricultural fields in France, finding the highest amounts in urban samples, with
compounds changing over time.


========================================================================== Although production of the most concerning PFAS has been banned or
voluntarily phased out in many countries, the compounds linger in
the environment. Also, they have been replaced with other PFAS that
have uncertain environmental and health effects. Humans and livestock
could ingest PFAS and excrete them in their waste, and the compounds
could leach into wastewater. In addition, when wastes are applied to agriculture fields as fertilizer, PFAS could contaminate groundwater
and bio-accumulate in food crops. Se'bastien Sauve' with colleagues
from France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and
Environment wanted to comprehensively characterize multiple classes of
PFAS in contemporary and historical organic waste products -- including livestock manures, urban sewage sludges and composts, and industrial
wastes -- applied to French agricultural lands.

The researchers selected 47 samples of organic waste products intended
for field application, collected in France from 1976 to 2018. They
analyzed the samples for known and previously uncharacterized PFAS by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Over 90% of the samples contained at
least one PFAS, with up to 113 compounds detected in a single sample. The
team detected fewer and lower levels of PFAS in livestock manures than in wastes of urban origin. In the urban wastes, they detected high levels of
PFAS compounds that are not commonly monitored, suggesting that previous studies underestimated total PFAS levels.

Historical urban samples contained higher levels of phased-out PFAS,
whereas contemporary samples were dominated by compounds called
fluorotelomers, which could degrade to more persistent PFAS in the
environment, the researchers say.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Alliance Nationale de Recherche
pour l'Environment; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada; the Fonds de Recherche du Que'bec, Nature et Technologies;
the Canada Foundation for Innovation; the Strategic Environmental
Research and Development Program; and the McGill Engineering Doctoral
Award scholarship.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Gabriel Munoz, Aure'lia Marcelline Michaud, Min Liu, Sung Vo
Duy, Denis
Montenach, Camille Resseguier, Franc,oise Watteau, Vale'rie Sappin-
Didier, Fre'de'ric Feder, Thierry Morvan, Sabine Houot, Me'lanie
Desrosiers, Jinxia Liu, and Se'bastien Sauve'. Target and Nontarget
Screening of PFAS in Biosolids, Composts, and Other Organic Waste
Products for Land Application in France. Environmental Science &
Technology, 2021 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c03697 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211020083852.htm

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