Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products: The effect of treatment processes

Rooney Kim Lazcano; Chloé de Perre; Michael L. Mashtare; Linda S. Lee

doi:10.1002/wer.1174

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products: The effect of treatment processes

Rooney Kim Lazcano, Chloé de Perre, Michael L. Mashtare, Linda S. Lee

Agricultural & Biological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial products and are known to accumulate in sewage sludge due to sorption and their recalcitrant nature. Treatment processes ensure safe and high-quality biosolids by reducing the potential for adverse environmental impacts such as pathogen levels; however, they have yet to be evaluated for their impact on the fate of PFAS. The objective of this study was to compare PFAS concentrations in four commercially available biosolid-based products that received different types of treatments: heat treatment, composting, blending, and thermal hydrolysis. Seventeen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were quantified using liquid chromatography with tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry followed by screening for 30 PFAA precursors. Treatment processes did not reduce PFAA loads except for blending, which served only to dilute concentrations. Several PFAA precursors were identified with 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer phosphate diesters in all samples pre- and post-treatment. Practitioner points: Heat treatment and composting increased perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations. Only dilution from blending with non-PFAS material decreased PFAA concentrations. Thermal hydrolysis process had no apparent effect on PFAA concentrations. PFAS sources are a greater driver of PFAS loads in biosolid-based products than treatment processes.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1669-1677
Number of pages	9
Journal	Water Environment Research
Volume	91
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/wer.1174
State	Published - Dec 1 2019

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Environmental Chemistry
Ecological Modeling
Water Science and Technology
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution

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10.1002/wer.1174

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@article{07a881448e294d5ca80761001f7b181e,

title = "Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products: The effect of treatment processes",

abstract = "Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial products and are known to accumulate in sewage sludge due to sorption and their recalcitrant nature. Treatment processes ensure safe and high-quality biosolids by reducing the potential for adverse environmental impacts such as pathogen levels; however, they have yet to be evaluated for their impact on the fate of PFAS. The objective of this study was to compare PFAS concentrations in four commercially available biosolid-based products that received different types of treatments: heat treatment, composting, blending, and thermal hydrolysis. Seventeen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were quantified using liquid chromatography with tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry followed by screening for 30 PFAA precursors. Treatment processes did not reduce PFAA loads except for blending, which served only to dilute concentrations. Several PFAA precursors were identified with 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer phosphate diesters in all samples pre- and post-treatment. Practitioner points: Heat treatment and composting increased perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations. Only dilution from blending with non-PFAS material decreased PFAA concentrations. Thermal hydrolysis process had no apparent effect on PFAA concentrations. PFAS sources are a greater driver of PFAS loads in biosolid-based products than treatment processes.",

author = "{Kim Lazcano}, Rooney and {de Perre}, Chlo{\'e} and Mashtare, {Michael L.} and Lee, {Linda S.}",

note = "Funding Information: This project was supported in part by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Funds Accession No. 1006516, and Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship. We thank Dan Eberhardt (TAGRO), Jeff Spence (Milorganite) and James Dunbar, Mike Dougherty, Samantha Halloran, Dr. Ajay Singh from Lystek for providing samples and helpful information. Also, we thank Maile Lono-Batura (Northwest Biosolids) for initial coordination to identify fertilizer vendors. Lastly, we appreciate Dr. Youn Jeong Choi (Colorado School of Mines) for her helpful suggestions and Armando I. Lazcano (Purdue University) for proofreading this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Water Environment Federation",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1002/wer.1174",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "91",

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journal = "Water Environment Research",

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T1 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products

T2 - The effect of treatment processes

AU - Kim Lazcano, Rooney

AU - de Perre, Chloé

AU - Mashtare, Michael L.

AU - Lee, Linda S.

N1 - Funding Information: This project was supported in part by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Funds Accession No. 1006516, and Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship. We thank Dan Eberhardt (TAGRO), Jeff Spence (Milorganite) and James Dunbar, Mike Dougherty, Samantha Halloran, Dr. Ajay Singh from Lystek for providing samples and helpful information. Also, we thank Maile Lono-Batura (Northwest Biosolids) for initial coordination to identify fertilizer vendors. Lastly, we appreciate Dr. Youn Jeong Choi (Colorado School of Mines) for her helpful suggestions and Armando I. Lazcano (Purdue University) for proofreading this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Water Environment Federation

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial products and are known to accumulate in sewage sludge due to sorption and their recalcitrant nature. Treatment processes ensure safe and high-quality biosolids by reducing the potential for adverse environmental impacts such as pathogen levels; however, they have yet to be evaluated for their impact on the fate of PFAS. The objective of this study was to compare PFAS concentrations in four commercially available biosolid-based products that received different types of treatments: heat treatment, composting, blending, and thermal hydrolysis. Seventeen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were quantified using liquid chromatography with tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry followed by screening for 30 PFAA precursors. Treatment processes did not reduce PFAA loads except for blending, which served only to dilute concentrations. Several PFAA precursors were identified with 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer phosphate diesters in all samples pre- and post-treatment. Practitioner points: Heat treatment and composting increased perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations. Only dilution from blending with non-PFAS material decreased PFAA concentrations. Thermal hydrolysis process had no apparent effect on PFAA concentrations. PFAS sources are a greater driver of PFAS loads in biosolid-based products than treatment processes.

AB - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial products and are known to accumulate in sewage sludge due to sorption and their recalcitrant nature. Treatment processes ensure safe and high-quality biosolids by reducing the potential for adverse environmental impacts such as pathogen levels; however, they have yet to be evaluated for their impact on the fate of PFAS. The objective of this study was to compare PFAS concentrations in four commercially available biosolid-based products that received different types of treatments: heat treatment, composting, blending, and thermal hydrolysis. Seventeen perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) were quantified using liquid chromatography with tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry followed by screening for 30 PFAA precursors. Treatment processes did not reduce PFAA loads except for blending, which served only to dilute concentrations. Several PFAA precursors were identified with 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer phosphate diesters in all samples pre- and post-treatment. Practitioner points: Heat treatment and composting increased perfluoroalkyl acid (PFAA) concentrations. Only dilution from blending with non-PFAS material decreased PFAA concentrations. Thermal hydrolysis process had no apparent effect on PFAA concentrations. PFAS sources are a greater driver of PFAS loads in biosolid-based products than treatment processes.

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JO - Water Environment Research

JF - Water Environment Research

IS - 12

ER -

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially available biosolid-based products: The effect of treatment processes

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