Congener specific organic carbon normalized soil and sediment-water partitioning coefficients for the C~1~ through C~8~ perfluoroalkyl carboxylic and sulfonic acids

Abstract

Organic carbon normalized soil and sediment-water partitioning coefficients (K~oc~) were estimated for all C~1~ through C~8~ perfluoroalkyl carboxylic (PFCA) and sulfonic (PFSA) acid congeners. The limited experimental K~oc~ dataset for the straight chain C~7~ through C~10~ PFCAs and C~8~ and C~10~ PFSAs was correlated to SPARC and ALOGPS computationally estimated octanol-water partitioning / distribution constants and used to predict K~oc~ values for both branched and linear C~1~ through C~8~ isomers. Branched and linear congeners in this homologue range are generally expected to have K~oc~ values >1, leading to their accumulation in organic matter on sediments and soils, retardation during ground and pore water flow, and the preferential association with dissolved organic matter in aquatic systems. Both increasing perfluoroalkyl chain length and linearity increase K~oc~ values with substantial intra- and inter-homologue variation and interhomologue mixing. Variability in K~oc~ values among the PFCA and PFSA congeners will likely lead to an enrichment of more linear and longer chain isomers in organic matter fractions, resulting in aqueous phases fractionated towards shorter chain branched congeners. The expected magnitude of fractionation will require inclusion in source apportionment models and risk assessments. A comparison of representative established quantitative structure property relationships for estimating K~oc~ values from octanol-water partitioning constants suggests that these equilibrium partitioning frameworks may be applicable towards modeling PFCA and PFSA environmental fate processes.