Microbial transformation of 8:2 fluorotelomer acrylate and methacrylate in aerobic soils

• Fluorotelomer (FT) acrylate-based monomers exhibit half-lives of 3–15 d in aerobic soils.
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) yields reached just over 10% in 105 d.
• 7:2 sFTOH degradation was inhibited, possibly due to the concomitant production of acrylic acids.
• The non-fluorinated terminus group linked to the FT chain affects ester cleavage rates.

Biotransformation of fluorotelomer (FT) compounds, such as 8:2 FT alcohol (FTOH) is now recognized to be a source of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as well as other perfluoroalkyl acids. In this study, microbially mediated hydrolysis of FT industrial intermediates 8:2 FT acrylate (8:2 FTAC) and 8:2 FT methacrylate (8:2 FTMAC) was evaluated in aerobic soils for up to 105 d. At designated times, triplicate microcosms were sacrificed by sampling the headspace for volatile FTOHs followed by sequential extraction of soil for the parent monomers as well as transient and terminal degradation products. Both FTAC and FTMAC were hydrolyzed at the ester linkage as evidenced by 8:2 FTOH production. 8:2 FTAC and FTMAC degraded rapidly with half-lives ⩽5 d and 15 d, respectively. Maximum 8:2 FTOH levels were 6–13 mol% within 3–6 d. Consistent with the known biotransformation pathway of 8:2 FTOH, FT carboxylic acids and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids were subsequently generated including up to 10.3 mol% of PFOA (105 d). A total mass balance (parent plus metabolites) of 50–75 mol% was observed on the last sampling day. 7:2 sFTOH, a direct precursor to PFOA, unexpectedly increased throughout the incubation period. The likely, but unconfirmed, concomitant production of acrylic acids was proposed as altering expected degradation patterns. Biotransformation of 8:2 FTAC, 8:2 FTMAC, and previously reported 8:2 FT-stearate for the same soils revealed the effect of the non-fluorinated terminus group linked to the FT chain on the electronic differences that affect microbially-mediated ester cleavage rates.