Abstract
The concentrations of difluoroacetic acid (DFA) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in rainwater and surface water from Berlin, Germany resembled those reported for similar urban areas, and the TFA/DFA ratio in rainwater of 10:1 was in accordance with the literature. In contrast, nearby ground water historically contaminated with 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane (R113) displayed a TFA/DFA ratio of 1:3. This observation is discussed versus the inventory of microbial degradation products present in this ground water along with the parent R113 itself. A microbial transformation of chlorotrifluoroethylene (R1113) to DFA so far has not been reported for environmental media, and is suggested based on well-established mammalian metabolic pathways.
Highlights
Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is very stable in the environment with an estimated half-life of several hundreds of years [1,2] and is found worldwide in oceans [3] and water bodies [4], though no accumulation in biota has been observed [2]
Little is known about the origin and behavior of environmental difluoroacetic acid (DFA) and its natural source has not been identified to the best of our knowledge
Assuming a depuration effect by the first rainfall after a longer dry period, the TFA concentration decreased in the consecutive rainfall
Summary
Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is very stable in the environment with an estimated half-life of several hundreds of years [1,2] and is found worldwide in oceans [3] and water bodies [4], though no accumulation in biota has been observed [2]. A natural oceanic source for TFA has been suggested on the basis of concentration patterns [3,6]. Little is known about the origin and behavior of environmental difluoroacetic acid (DFA) and its natural source has not been identified to the best of our knowledge. The limited literature on DFA formation suggests reductive defluorination of TFA to DFA and further to monofluoroacetic acid under certain anaerobic conditions [8,9]. The relevance of DFA formation during the pyrolysis of fluoropolymers [10,11]
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