Global emission inventories for C4–C14 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) homologues from 1951 to 2030, Part I: production and emissions from quantifiable sources

Abstract

We quantify global emissions of C4–C14 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid (PFCA) homologues during the life-cycle of products based on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (POSF), and fluorotelomer compounds. We estimate emissions of 2610–21400 tonnes of C4–C14 PFCAs in the period from 1951 to 2015, and project 20–6420 tonnes to be emitted from 2016 to 2030. The global annual emissions steadily increased in the period 1951–2002, followed by a decrease and then another increase in the period 2002–2012. Releases from fluoropolymer production contributed most to historical PFCA emissions (e.g. 55–83% in 1951–2002). Since 2002, there has been a geographical shift of industrial sources (particularly fluoropolymer production sites) from North America, Europe and Japan to emerging Asian economies, especially China. Sources differ between PFCA homologues, sometimes considerably, and the relative contributions of each source change over time. For example, whereas 98–100% of historical (1951–2002) PFOA emissions are attributed to direct releases during the life-cycle of products containing PFOA as ingredients or impurities, a much higher historical contribution from PFCA precursor degradation is estimated for some other homologues (e.g. 9–78% for PFDA). We address the uncertainties of the PFCA emissions by defining a lower and a higher emission scenario, which differ by approximately a factor of eight.