TY - JOUR
T1 - Structure-specific aerobic defluorination of short-chain fluorinated carboxylic acids by activated sludge communities
AU - Che, Shun
AU - Jin, Bosen
AU - Liu, Zekun
AU - Yu, Yaochun
AU - Liu, Jinyong
AU - Men, Yujie
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is supported by the Initial Complement from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and the University of California, Riverside (for Y.M.), the National Science Foundation (Award No. CHE-1709286 for Y.Y., S.C., and Y.M.), and the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (ER18-1289 for Z.L. and J.L.; ER20-1541 for Y.Y., B.J., and Y.M.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
PY - 2021/8/10
Y1 - 2021/8/10
N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of manmade chemicals that impose emerging environmental concerns. Among them, short-chain per- and polyfluorinated carboxylic acids represent an important subgroup used as building blocks of biologically active chemicals and functional materials. Some are also considered PFAS alternatives, and some could be byproducts of the physicochemical treatment of PFAS. However, little is known about the environmental fate of short-chain fluorinated carboxylic acids (FCAs) and their defluorination/transformation by microorganisms. To fill the knowledge gap, we investigated the structure-reactivity relationships in the aerobic defluorination of C3-C5 FCAs by activated sludge communities. Four structures exhibited greater than 20% defluorination, with 3,3,3-trifluoropropionic acid being almost completely defluorinated. We further analyzed the defluorination/transformation pathways and inferred the structures susceptible to aerobic microbial defluorination. We also demonstrated that the defluorination was via cometabolism. The findings advance the fundamental understanding of aerobic microbial defluorination and help assess the environmental fate of PFAS. Since some short-chain PFAS, such as 3,3,3-trifluoropropionic acid, are the incomplete defluorination byproducts of advanced reduction processes, their defluorination by activated sludge communities sheds light on the development of cost-effective chemical-biological PFAS treatment train systems.
AB - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of manmade chemicals that impose emerging environmental concerns. Among them, short-chain per- and polyfluorinated carboxylic acids represent an important subgroup used as building blocks of biologically active chemicals and functional materials. Some are also considered PFAS alternatives, and some could be byproducts of the physicochemical treatment of PFAS. However, little is known about the environmental fate of short-chain fluorinated carboxylic acids (FCAs) and their defluorination/transformation by microorganisms. To fill the knowledge gap, we investigated the structure-reactivity relationships in the aerobic defluorination of C3-C5 FCAs by activated sludge communities. Four structures exhibited greater than 20% defluorination, with 3,3,3-trifluoropropionic acid being almost completely defluorinated. We further analyzed the defluorination/transformation pathways and inferred the structures susceptible to aerobic microbial defluorination. We also demonstrated that the defluorination was via cometabolism. The findings advance the fundamental understanding of aerobic microbial defluorination and help assess the environmental fate of PFAS. Since some short-chain PFAS, such as 3,3,3-trifluoropropionic acid, are the incomplete defluorination byproducts of advanced reduction processes, their defluorination by activated sludge communities sheds light on the development of cost-effective chemical-biological PFAS treatment train systems.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00511
DO - 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00511
M3 - Article
C2 - 35316934
AN - SCOPUS:85112527799
SN - 2328-8930
VL - 8
SP - 668
EP - 674
JO - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
JF - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
IS - 8
ER -