HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019.06.24_CCO.p27_Long to Holman re Submission of PFAS Fate and Transport StudyThe Chemours Company
Fayetteville Works
22828 NC Highway 87 W
Fayetteville, NC 28306
June 24, 2019
Sheila Holman
Assistant Secretary for the Environment
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1601
sheila.holman@ncdenr.gov
Re: Submission of Site Associated PFAS Fate and Transport Study Pursuant to Consent
Order Paragraph 27
Dear Ms. Holman,
Enclosed, please find a PDF copy of the Site Associated PFAS Fate and Transport Study for the
Chemours Fayetteville Works. This document presents an evaluation the fate and transport of
PFAS associated with the Site in the environment using the best currently available data and
information. The evaluation includes a description of physical and chemical mechanisms and
compound properties that will influence fate and transport in the environment. The evaluation also
presents available empirical data about hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA)
physical properties and fate and transport characteristics. This document meets the requirements
of Paragraph 27 of the Consent Order dated February 25, 2019. Geosyntec Consultants of NC, PC
has been approved as the third-party consultant by NCDEQ as required under Paragraph 27 of the
Consent Order.
As always, if you have any questions or need any additional information concerning this report, or
the Consent Order implementation generally, please contact me at Brian.D.Long@chemours.com.
Sincerely,
Brian D. Long
Plant Manager
Chemours – Fayetteville Works
Enclosure
Site Associated PFAS Fate and Transport Study Report
2
Cc:
William F. Lane, DEQ
Francisco Benzoni, NC DOJ
Michael Abraczinskas, DAQ
Michael Scott, DWM
Linda Culpepper, DWR
David C. Shelton, Chemours
John F. Savarese, WLRK
Kemp Burdette, CFRW
Geoff Gisler, SELC
SITE ASSOCIATED PFAS
FATE AND TRANSPORT STUDY
CHEMOURS FAYETTEVILLE WORKS
Prepared for
The Chemours Company
Fayetteville Works
22828 NC Highway 87 W
Fayetteville, NC 28306
Prepared by
Geosyntec Consultants of NC, P.C.
2501 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 430
Raleigh, NC 27607
Project TR0795
June 2019
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS i June 2019
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1
2. PFAS CHEMISTRY .................................................................................................................2
2.1 Site Associated PFAS ......................................................................................................2
3. ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES INFLUENCING PFAS FATE AND TRANSPORT .....5
3.1 Physical Transport Processes ..........................................................................................5
3.1.1 Advection ............................................................................................................5
3.1.2 Diffusion ..............................................................................................................6
3.2 Chemical Processes .........................................................................................................6
3.2.1 Volatilization and Influence of Dissolution ........................................................7
3.2.2 Partitioning between Environmental Media ........................................................7
3.2.3 Potential PFAS Transformation in the Environment ........................................10
3.3 Summary of Site Associated PFAS Fate and Transport Pathways ...............................11
4. PFAS CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING FATE AND TRANSPORT ........................12
4.1 Isomer type ....................................................................................................................12
4.2 Fluorination ...................................................................................................................12
4.3 Presence and number of ether bonds .............................................................................12
4.4 Chain length ..................................................................................................................13
4.5 Number and type of functional groups ..........................................................................13
5. EMPIRICAL FATE AND TRANSPORT DATA ..................................................................14
5.1 HFPO-DA Empirical Data ............................................................................................14
5.2 Liquid Chromatography Retention Times .....................................................................14
6. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY .........................................................................................15
7. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................16
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Classification of Site Associated PFAS
Table 2: Empirically Measured Data for hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA)
Table 3: Site Associated PFAS Liquid Chromatography Elution Times
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS ii June 2019
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
C Carbon
°C degrees celsius
CAS Chemical Abstracts Service
Chemours The Chemours Company FC, LLC
CO Consent Order
DEQ North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
DuPont E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
E1 Heptafluoropropyl-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl ether
Geosyntec Geosyntec Consultants of NC, PC
HFPO Hexafluoropropylene oxide
HFPO-DA Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid
LC Liquid chromatograph
NCDEQ North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Pa Pascals
PAH Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
PCB Polychlorinated biphenyl
PFAS Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid
PFOS Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid
pKa Negative logarithm of the acid dissociation constant
PVF Polyvinyl fluoride
USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 1 June 2019
1. INTRODUCTION
This document has been prepared by Geosyntec Consultants of NC P.C. (Geosyntec) for The
Chemours Company FC, LLC (Chemours) to address requirements specified in Paragraph 27 of
the Consent Order (CO) between Chemours and the North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality (NCDEQ) with the Cape Fear River Watch as intervenor. Geosyntec has been approved
by NCDEQ to prepare this document, which analyzes the fate and transport of per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) originating from Chemours Fayetteville Works (the Site; the
Facility). Specifically, Paragraph 27 of the CO states:
Chemours shall fund development by a third party contractor(s) of a study, based
on the best available data and information, analyzing the fate and transport of
identified PFAS originating from the Facility in air, surface water and
groundwater. Chemours’ contractor(s) shall (i) be approved by DEQ, and (ii)
submit the completed study to DEQ for review by June 30, 2019.
The objective of this report is to evaluate the fate and transport of PFAS associated with the Site
in the environment using the best currently available data and information. Based on available
data, this report presents a qualitative description of the fate and transport of these PFAS, including
a description of physical and chemical mechanisms and compound properties that will influence
fate and transport in the environment. At present, only a qualitative description is possible since
published measured fate and transport properties are scarce for PFAS associated with the Site. The
remainder of this report is organized as follows:
1. Introduction. This section describes the purpose and overview of this document.
2. PFAS Chemistry. This section presents an overview of PFAS chemical structures
and then introduces Site Associated PFAS and their chemical characteristics.
3. Environmental Processes Influencing PFAS Fate and Transport. This section
reviews the currently known physical and chemical mechanisms that control PFAS
fate and transport in the environment.
4. PFAS Characteristics Influencing Fate and Transport. This section describes
how chemical characteristics of Site Associated PFAS are expected to influence
their fate and transport in the environment.
5. Empirical Fate and Transport Data. This section presents the available empirical
data at the time of publication of this report for the PFAS related to the Site.
6. Discussion and Summary. This section summarizes earlier sections of this
document.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 2 June 2019
2. PFAS CHEMISTRY
PFAS is a term used for a group of man-made carbon-based chemicals composed of a fully or
partially fluorinated chain of carbon atoms (referred to as a “tail”) and a nonfluorinated, polar
functional group (referred to as a “head”) at one end of the carbon chain. Numerous variations of
fluorinated tails and functional groups exist, including for Site Associated PFAS (Table 1).
The term “PFAS” is most correctly used when referring to a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
chemicals (Mueller and Yingling, 2018a). When many fluorine atoms are bonded to the carbon
atoms of the tail, the prefix “poly” is used in the name of the chemical compound. When all
potential fluorination locations on the carbon tail are fluorinated, i.e. there are no hydrogen-carbon
bonds, the prefix “per” is used in the name of the compound. The properties of per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances are sufficiently similar that they are considered jointly and referred to
as PFAS (Mueller and Yingling, 2018a).
In general, fluorination of the carbon chain renders it hydrophobic (i.e., unlikely to associate with
water molecules) and lipophobic (i.e., unlikely to associate with nonpolar carbon-based
molecules), while the polar head group is hydrophilic (i.e., likely to associate with water
molecules). In other words, the fluorinated tail does not have strong affinity for either polar or non-
polar phases while the head group does have affinity for polar phases (Mueller and Yingling,
2018b). These primary characteristics (fluorinated tail and polar functional group) control much
of the environmental properties of PFAS. Specific variations in chain length, molecular weight,
head group, and other structural features of PFAS also influence transport, toxicity, and reactivity
in the environment (Ahrens et al., 2011).
2.1 Site Associated PFAS
Chemours manufactures per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether compounds and polymers at the Site. The
Site is located within a 2,177-acre property approximately 15 miles southeast of the city of
Fayetteville in North Carolina. The Site was originally purchased by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and
Company (DuPont) in 1970 for production of nylon strapping and elastomeric tape. Presently
Chemours is the Site owner with leased tenants DuPont and Kuraray. The Site has five
manufacturing areas:
Area 1- Chemours Monomers IXM;
Area 2- Chemours Polymer Processing Aid;
Area 3 - Kuraray Butacite®;
Area 4 - Kuraray SentryGlas®; and
Area 5 - DuPont Company polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) resin manufacturing unit.
In addition to the manufacturing operations, Chemours operates two natural-gas-fired boilers and
a wastewater treatment plant for the treatment of process wastewaters from the Kuraray and
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 3 June 2019
DuPont manufacturing facilities and sanitary wastewaters from all three facilities. At present all
Chemours process wastewater is sent offsite for disposal.
PFAS from the Site have been identified by non-targeted mass spectrometry analyses performed
by Chemours, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and researchers
within the University of North Carolina System. Non-targeted mass spectrometry is a specialized
technique used to identify unknown compounds, particularly when analytical standards of these
compounds may not exist. These non-targeted studies identified perfluorinated ether compounds.
The term “ether” refers to compounds with an ether bond. An ether bond is two carbon atoms
linked by oxygen atom; this bond can also be referred to as “ether linkages”. These ether
compounds have been detected in environmental samples of soil, groundwater, surface water and
rainwater (Sun et al., 2016; Hopkins et al., 2018; McCord and Strynar, 2019). To date, Chemours
has identified 24 PFAS associated with the Site in water and soil-based samples. In this document
these 24 PFAS are referred to as the “Site Associated PFAS” and they are presented in Table 1.
Analytical standards have been developed for these compounds to allow for quantitative
measurement in certain Site media (groundwater, surface water and rainwater). The analytical
method developed to quantify these Site Associated PFAS is referred to as "Table 3+". Currently
two commercial analytical laboratories can analyze samples using this method. Eurofins
TestAmerica Sacramento and Eurofins Lancaster can quantitate 20 of these compounds. Presently
a second method is being developed to quantitate the remaining 4 compounds (MTP, MMF, DFSA,
and PPF Acid).
Consistent with work published by McCord and Strynar (2019), Chemours has identified chemical
formulas, although not structures, for an additional 22 PFAS through non-targeted analysis of
wastewater samples collected prior to June 21, 2017 the date when Chemours began diverting
certain process wastewaters for offsite disposal. As part of Consent Order Paragraph 11a,
Chemours is performing non-targeted analysis on samples of stormwater and process water as
described in the PFAS Non-Targeted Analysis and Methods Development Plan (Chemours, 2019)
to identify PFAS potentially present in these samples which are in addition to the 24 PFAS that
have had their structures identified and standards synthesized. Chemours will then develop
analytical standards and methods for any newly identified PFAS compounds as part of Paragraph
11a efforts.
Site Associated PFAS described in this document are those detected in soil, groundwater, surface
water and rainwater samples. Some Site Associated PFAS compounds have been transported
offsite via aerial transport and deposition. These compounds can then be transferred to water and
transported to groundwater. Two additional perfluorinated compounds, Hexafluoropropylene
oxide (HFPO) and Heptafluoropropyl-1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl ether (E1), have been detected in air
samples collected to measure concentrations of PFAS in air emissions; these compounds have not
been detected in water or soil based samples. Upon emission to air, HFPO and E1 become
dispersed in the global atmosphere (Yarwood, 2018a; Yarwood, 2018b). They are transformed
after reaction with atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (Yarwood, 2018a; Yarwood, 2018b). Other per-
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 4 June 2019
and polyfluorinated compounds have been potentially emitted to air but have not been quantified
to date in air samples. HFPO and E1 are not associated with water and hence have not been detected
in non-targeted analyses of groundwater, surface waters, or process waters by Chemours or other
researchers.
The current group of 24 Site Associated PFAS that have been detected in soil or water samples are
the focus of this Fate and Transport study. The 24 Site Associated PFAS differ from each other
based on the following properties:
Degree of fluorination
Isomer type
Functional groups
Chain length
Presence of ether groups.
These attributes and chemical structures are shown in Table 1, and the anticipated relative effect
that each attribute will have on the compounds fate and transport in the environment is described
in Section 4.
The Site Associated PFAS that has been studied most to date is hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer
acid (HFPO-DA; CAS 13252-13-6). HFPO-DA is one of a group of related chemicals. When either
hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid fluoride (“HFPO-DA fluoride”, CAS 2062-98-8) or
hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid ammonium salt (CAS 62037-80-3) enter water, HFPO-DA
is formed (Hogue, 2018). HFPO-DA fluoride is manufactured from HFPO (CAS 428-59-1) in
controlled conditions (Hogue, 2018). The same is true for the formation of HFPO-DA ammonium
salt from HFPO-DA fluoride. Because of the rapid reaction that transforms HFPO-DA fluoride
and HFPO-DA ammonium salt to HFPO-DA, HFPO-DA is the chemical with environmental
relevance. Accordingly, because the Table 3+ method and the McCord and Strynar (2019) methods
are designed for liquid samples, they measured HFPO-DA, not HFPO-DA ammonium salt.
Consequently, HFPO-DA is the only one of these related chemicals to be considered as a Site
Associated PFAS in this report.
HFPO-DA is the only Site Associated PFAS for which environmentally relevant experimental data
exist. These results are presented in this document and summarized in Section 5.1 and Table 2.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 5 June 2019
3. ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES INFLUENCING PFAS FATE AND
TRANSPORT
The environmental fate and transport of Site Associated PFAS will result from a combination of
physical and chemical factors and processes acting on individual PFAS. Physical processes involve
the mixing and transport of environmental media and chemicals within media while chemical
processes include interactions between compounds and environmental media or changes in the
compounds themselves. This section describes the physical and chemical factors and processes
that influence fate and transport.
3.1 Physical Transport Processes
Physical processes involve the movement of compounds in response to environmental gradients
(e.g., pressure or chemical gradients). Advection and diffusion are the two physical processes that
will affect Site Associated PFAS.
3.1.1 Advection
Advection in environmental fluids induces turbulence and consequent dispersion that can mix
chemicals into the flowing fluid. Advection of PFAS can occur in air, groundwater and surface
water. To the extent that Site Associated PFAS volatilize, become airborne associated to
particulates or dissolve (discussed below), they will be subject to advection.
Historically some Site Associated PFAS have been emitted to the atmosphere. Transport of
compounds via air will be affected by local meteorology, precipitation, terrain and surface
characteristics. Additionally, source-specific parameters such as buoyancy, flow rate, exhaust
temperature, release height, etc. also influence fate and transport of a compound in the atmosphere.
Air transport also includes the airborne transport of particles that contain Site Associated PFAS.
These may originate from the land surface, from dust accumulation on industrial areas, or from
particulate emissions that are part of industrial processes. Literature studies have documented
airborne PFAS accumulating to measurable levels on soil surface and in surface water through dry
or wet atmospheric deposition (Dreyer et al., 2010; Taniyasu, Yamashita et al. 2013, Rankin et al.,
2016).
Site Associated PFAS are expected to be soluble in water (see Section 3.2.1), so compounds that
enter surface water or groundwater will be transported via advection. Dispersion in porous media
will cause PFAS concentrations to become distributed along the direction of flow and
perpendicular to flow direction. Sorption to either aquifer material or air-water interfaces will
retard groundwater transport. Advection in surface waters will also transport Site Associated
PFAS. Surface waters transport particles in both stormwater runoff and stream flow, and so surface
water transport of Site Associated PFAS will include both dissolved and particulate PFAS species.
When compounds sorb to organic and inorganic particles and those particles are immobile in calm
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 6 June 2019
water (either as a stream bed or as a suspended load that settles), this may result in retardation
during surface water transport.
3.1.2 Diffusion
Diffusion transports chemicals through fluids (e.g. air and water) in response to concentration
gradients. Where advection is negligible, diffusion can be the primary mechanism of mass
transport in environmental media. Effective diffusion, the amount of diffusion that occurs in
groundwater, is controlled by temperature, porosity, permeability, soil grain tortuosity, molecular
size of chemical compounds, and intermolecular interactions. It can be inhibited by interactions
between molecules and particles (i.e., aquifer material). Although diffusion coefficients for Site
Associated PFAS are not presently known, diffusion is expected to be of minor importance for the
transport of these chemicals because the groundwater, surface water, and air are not static in the
vicinity of the Site and so advection is expected to be the dominant transport mechanism over
diffusion.
One scenario in which diffusion may be relevant is back diffusion. This occurs following multiple
separate processes. First, concentrations of chemicals in groundwater of low-permeability aquifer
formations (e.g., a clay formation) slowly increase due to diffusion of chemicals contained in
groundwater in neighboring, higher-permeability formations (e.g., a sand formation or surface
water). Over time the concentrations in the higher permeability formations decreases (e.g., due to
a discontinuation of contamination and ongoing groundwater advection or due to treatment). When
this occurs, the higher concentrations of compounds are in the low-permeability formation, and
diffusion will occur to achieve equilibrium. This process is referred to as “back diffusion”. This
process can result a long-term, low-level source for chemicals to the groundwater in the permeable
aquifer formation and thus potentially result in continued detections in the environment. Rates of
back diffusion for Site Associated PFAS will depend not only on presently unknown diffusivities
but also on the aquifer and clay soil properties of the Site.
3.2 Chemical Processes
Chemical processes involve interactions between chemical compounds and environmental media.
Chemical processes can alter transport of chemicals, including PFAS, in environmental media by
transferring them between media with different transport velocities. For example, if a chemical
load is introduced to surface water and a fraction of that load reacts with sediment particles, then
downstream transport of the total introduced load will be retarded. Conversely, chemical reactions
can result in mobilization of sediment-associated chemicals into more mobile phases (e.g., water
or air). The following subsections describe specific processes that are expected to influence Site
Associated PFAS.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 7 June 2019
3.2.1 Volatilization and Influence of Dissolution
Volatilization is the process by which liquids become gases and can influence fate and transport
in groundwater, surface water and air. Volatilization of most carbon-based compounds occurs at
the liquid-to-gas transition phase. Dissolution is the process by which a compound forms a
chemical bond with a solvent (e.g., water) such that it behaves as though it is part of the solvent.
In environmental media, dissolution of a compound in water hinders the volatilization of that
compound. Nonpolar and light compounds are highly volatile, whereas heavier and polar
compounds are less volatile because of their propensities to bond with each other and with water.
Polarity also facilitates dissolution in water. The volatility of a compound in liquid form can be
described by its vapor pressure, and the solubility of a compound describes its likelihood of
dissolving. Generally, PFAS vapor pressures are low and water solubilities are high. Most PFAS
have negatively charged head groups, so they are likely to be relatively mobile in the subsurface
due to the affinity of the head group for water molecules (Mueller and Yingling, 2018b).
All Site Associated PFAS contain at least one polar head group. Many Site Associated PFAS also
contain additional polar head groups or one or more ether bonds, yet some of them are also short-
chain compounds. These two characteristics are likely to offset one another, with increased polarity
decreasing volatility while decreased chain length increasing volatility. For example, the vapor
pressure of HFPO-DA, which contains a six-member chain with one ether (i.e., oxygen) linkage
and a carboxylic acid head group, is 133 Pascals (Pa) at 25°C (DuPont, 2011). This indicates a
lower volatility than the linear six-carbon perfluorohexanoic acid (vapor pressure = 264 Pa at
25°C; National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2019) yet a higher volatility than the linear
eight-carbon perfluorooctanoic acid (vapor pressure = 70 Pa at 25°C; EPA, 2017). The Site
Associated PFAS have a chain length range (carbon and oxygen atoms) of 3-11 atoms with a wide
range of structural variation that includes ether linakages, polar head groups, and double bonds,
all of which will decrease volatilization of these PFAS when in pure liquid form (Table 1). Vapor
pressures and solubilities for Site Associated PFAS other than HFPO-DA have not been measured,
but they are expected to span a range of values due to the variation of chain length and other
structural features. Most Site Associated PFAS are ethers, which are expected to be less volatile
and more soluble than non-ether PFAS of equivalent chain length due to the polar oxygen atoms
included in their structures.
3.2.2 Partitioning between Environmental Media
After compounds enter the environment in a given medium (e.g., surface water), chemical
interactions will result in their total mass being divided between the environmental media (e.g.,
water, soils, sediments, air). This process is called partitioning. Partitioning can influence fate and
transport in groundwater and surface water. One of the most important partitioning processes is
sorption, which is the association of atoms or molecules with the surfaces of environmental media
(e.g., air, particles, or organic carbon). Most often, sorption refers to the chemical “sticking” or
association of low-concentration chemicals to the particles that make up sediment (including
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 8 June 2019
suspended sediment in surface waters) or soil. Sorption retards transport when dissolved atoms or
molecules become attached to sediment particles that are less mobile than water. In the subsurface,
organic carbon in aquifer material is generally not mobile, so sorption will retard transport.
Similarly, in surface waters, sediment in river beds moves downstream more slowly than the water
in rivers, so sorption here also retards transport. This section examines the effect of partitioning
through four different processes that are particularly relevant to PFAS:
Sorption to Organic Carbon,
Electrostatic Interactions,
Air-Water Interface Partitioning, and
Formation of Micelles.
Sorption to Organic Carbon
Like many elements and chemical compounds, PFAS can sorb to particles and porous media (i.e.,
suspended solids and soils). In the natural environment, many particles and porous media contain
organic carbon. Generally, clay and silt particles tend to be high in organic carbon, whereas sand
grains are lower in organic carbon content. Particulate organic carbon (i.e., biomass) can comprise
a substantial fraction of the particulate mass in many natural settings. Consequently, partitioning
of low-concentration compounds, especially carbon-based compounds, in the environment is
frequently controlled by sorption to organic carbon.
The tails of PFAS are made primarily of carbon atoms. They tend to be nonpolar, and so they tend
to sorb to organic carbons in soil and sediment (Higgins and Luthy 2006, Guelfo and Higgins,
2013). Because PFAS tails are also lipophobic, sorption to organic carbon tends to be weaker than
that of alkanes or well-studied organic contaminants (e.g., PAHs, PCBs). The sorption and
retardation of PFAS will increase with increasing fluorinated tail length. For a given soil, sediment,
or organic carbon type, the structure of the PFAS tail affects its interactions with organic carbon
molecules. Branched isomers tend to have lower sorption affinity than linear isomers of equal
chain length (Kärrman et al., 2011).
The coefficient that describes the partitioning to organic carbon (referred to as “KOC”) of HFPO-
DA has been measured as 12.0 L kg-1 for soil and as 12.6 L kg-1 for sludge (Bloxham, 2008). These
measurements were performed by dissolving HFPO-DA ammonium salt into a methanol-water
solution. Since HFPO-DA ammonium salt separates into HFPO-DA and an ammonium ion upon
contact with water, the results reported by this study for HFPO-DA ammonium salt are taken to
represent partitioning coefficients of HFPO-DA. These values are multiple orders of magnitude
lower than other common carbon-based contaminants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). While the sorption of HFPO-DA to environmental
media is low, sorption to Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) will still occur to a much greater
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 9 June 2019
degree than environmental media due to the high surface area of GAC relative to that of natural
organic carbon.
No empirical partitioning data exist for other Site Associated PFAS outside of HFPO-DA. As with
volatilization, the range of chain lengths of the Site Associated PFAS suggests a potential range
of sorption affinities to organic carbon. In general, compared to other well studied PFAS (e.g.,
perfluorooctanoic acid [PFOA] and perfluorooctanesulfonate [PFOS]), the Site Associated PFAS
are likely to have lower affinities to organic carbon. Site Associated PFAS have ether bonds and,
for 5 of the 24 compounds, two charged head groups. Both of these features increase the polarity
of the compounds and are likely to result in reduced sorption to organic carbon relative to non-
ether PFAS, given similar geochemical settings.
Electrostatic Interactions
Electrostatic interactions determine sorption of polar or charged chemicals to charged surfaces.
Site Associated PFAS are expected to have negatively charged head groups, and therefore
electrostatic sorption to soil and sediment particles is possible through ion exchange with
negatively charged ions on particle surfaces (Higgins and Luthy 2006). However, sorption to
charged particle surfaces in common soils and sediments is expected to be negligible relative to
sorption to particulate organic carbon (Higgins and Luthy 2006).
Air-Water Interface Partitioning
In addition to sorption, many PFAS partition to air-water interfaces when the hydrophobic tail of
carbon atoms of PFAS associates with the air-water interface of the subsurface unsaturated zone
or an above-ground water surface and the polar head group bonds to water (Brusseau et al., 2019;
Krafft and Riess 2015). This partitioning has been observed to retard subsurface transport by
approximately 50% in a model system with 20% air saturation (Brusseau, 2018). Other studies
indicate that the unsaturated zone can be a subsurface reservoir of PFAS (Weber et al., 2017).
Partitioning of PFAS at the air water interface will be dependent on PFAS concentration and
structure, the type of soils in the vadose zone and the degree of water saturation. Longer-chain
length PFAS are expected to accumulate at air-water interfaces more than shorter-chain length
PFAS (Brusseau et al., 2019). For Site Associated PFAS, adsorption to air-water interfaces may
be a retardation mechanism for subsurface transport. At present, experimental data do not exist to
assess the potential degree of retardation from this effect.
Formation of micelles
At elevated concentrations, PFAS form micelles in water. Micelles are aggregations of individual
molecules (Yu et al., 2009; Du et al., 2014). Micelles represent an association of PFAS molecules
with other PFAS molecules rather than surfaces or interfaces. In micelles, which are generally
spherical, the hydrophilic head groups of PFAS interact with surrounding water molecules and the
hydrophobic portions interact with each other on the inside of the sphere. Micelle formation
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 10 June 2019
confounds the partitioning interactions described above. The branched geometries and ether bonds
of Site Associated PFAS are expected to reduce the likelihood of micelle formation by providing
steric and electrostatic barriers to the association of the PFAS tails, but no empirical information
is currently available to quantify these effects in most Site Associated PFAS. The exception is
HFPO-DA: critical micelle concentration for HFPO-DA has been reported to vary between 0.135
and 0.2 moles per liter (approximately 40 to 70 grams per liter; Table 2). These concentrations are
significantly higher than observed in any groundwater or surface water sample.
3.2.3 Potential PFAS Transformation in the Environment
Current literature reviews indicate that transformation of most PFAS in the environment is
negligible. An important observed environmental transformation of PFAS has been the hydrolysis
of some polyfluorinated precursors to form perfluorinated compounds (Mueller and Yingling,
2018) and the biotic degradation of trifluoroacetate (e.g., Visscher et al., 1994). Components of
Site Associated PFAS which may be amenable to transformation reactions that degrade the tails
of these compounds are ether bonds present in 21 of 24 Site Associated PFAS, and carbon-
hydrogen bonds present in 5 of 24 Site Associated PFAS. (e.g., Weber et al., 2017). With one
exception, no data exist to document their transformation in surface water or groundwater. The
one exception is HFPO-DA, which has been documented to persist in the environment (The
Netherlands, 2019). This is consistent with research showing that perfluoroether chains are
resistant to abiotic and biotic degradation under environmentally relevant conditions, similar to the
perfluoroalkyl chains (Wang et al., 2015).
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 11 June 2019
3.3 Summary of Site Associated PFAS Fate and Transport Pathways
The anticipated relevance of the different factors and processes described above on a transport
pathway basis are summarized below.
Anticipated Relevance of Fate and Transport Processes and Mechanisms for Site Associated PFAS
Fate and Transport
Process or Mechanism Air Groundwater Surface
Water
Physical – Advection
Physical – Diffusion ‐‐‐‐
Chemical – Volatilization and Dissolution
Chemical – Sorption to Organic Carbon / Particles
Chemical – Electrostatic Interactions ‐‐ ‐‐‐‐
Chemical – Partitioning to Air-Water Interfaces ‐‐
Chemical – Formation of Micelles ‐‐ ‐‐‐‐
Chemical –Transformation ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐
Legend
Process expected to have influence on fate and transport
Process expected to have minimal influence on fate and transport
-- Process expected to have negligible influence on fate and transport
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 12 June 2019
4. PFAS CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCING FATE AND TRANSPORT
The discussion above of the physical and chemical processes that are expected to control PFAS
fate and transport in the environment reveals common themes across environmental media and
chemical processes. This section discusses the anticipated effects of the defining chemical
characteristics of the Site Associated PFAS on their fate and transport.
4.1 Isomer type
Isomers are chemicals with identical formulas but distinct structures. The concept of varying
chemical structure is important in the Site Associated PFAS because some have a single chain of
carbon and oxygen atoms in the tail whereas others have branched tails (Table 1). The existence
of branching in a compound can be determined visually by starting at the head group and
examining each atom of the chain, for example in Table 1 compare PFO5DA a linear compound
to Hydro-EVE Acid a branched compound. Branching occurs when a given carbon atom has more
than two carbon or oxygen atoms bonded to it and additional examination is required to determine
which atom is part of the chain and which is a smaller “branch” to the chain. In the 12 branched
Site Associated PFAS, all branches consist of a single carbon atom with three fluorine atoms
bonded to it.
Linear and branched PFAS differ in their partitioning behavior to particles. Isomerization also
results in significant differences in biochemical reactions and bioaccumulation (Mueller and
Yingling 2018b). For compounds with similar chain lengths and functional groups, branched
isomers sorb less than linear isomers in sediment (Houde et al., 2008; Chen et al., 2015) and
municipal sludge (Filipovic and Berger, 2015). These studies suggest that the branched Site
Associated PFAS may be more mobile in surface water and groundwater than similar linear Site
Associated PFAS.
4.2 Fluorination
All Site Associated PFAS are fluorinated. However, 6 of the 24 compounds are considered
polyfluorinated – not perfluorinated – because a hydrogen atom occupies one of the bonding
locations that could hold a fluorine. Consequently, not all Site Associated PFAS are fluorinated to
the same degree. Perfluorinated compounds tend to have higher sorption affinities to particulate
organic carbon than polyfluorinated compounds (Xiao et al., 2017).
4.3 Presence and number of ether bonds
The presence of oxygen atoms in the tails of Site Associated PFAS distinguishes the Site
Associated PFAS from the majority of PFAS studied in the publicly available literature. Empirical
studies of the effect of ether bonds on the partitioning behavior of PFAS in the environment has
not been conducted. Nonetheless, treatability studies using powdered activated carbon showed that
replacing a carbon (and its two bonded fluorine atoms) in the tail of a PFAS with an ether oxygen
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 13 June 2019
decreases the sorption affinity of that compound (Sun et al., 2016). This suggests that PFAS tails
with ether oxygens have increased tail polarity and decreased affinity for nonpolar organic carbon
compared to a PFAS with the same tail length but only with carbon atoms in the tail.
4.4 Chain length
Shorter-chain, linear PFAS without ether linkages have lower partitioning affinities to organic
carbon than similar compounds with longer chains. This implies that shorter-chained PFAS may
be transported from in groundwater at a faster rate (Sepulvado et al., 2011). It is expected in the
environment that perfluorinated and polyfluorinated ether compounds of varying chain length will
exhibit the same trends of greater mobility with short chains and less mobility with longer chains.
4.5 Number and type of functional groups
The number and type of functional groups in PFAS may affect partitioning affinity and micelle
formation due to the differing electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions and strengths of these
interactions. Site Associated PFAS that have one or two sulfonic and/or carboxylic head groups
are expected to exist in deprotonated form at natural pH based on reported pKa values for HFPO-
DA (Table 2). PFAS with two head groups (any combination of carboxylic or sulfonic acids) are
referred to as diprotic compounds and will likely experience less sorption to organic carbon and
are expected to be more mobile in the environment.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 14 June 2019
5. EMPIRICAL FATE AND TRANSPORT DATA
As mentioned in Section 3, to date, empirical data exist that describe the environmental behavior
of HFPO-DA but not for other Site Associated PFAS. This section consolidates information from
these studies and also presents chromatographic retention time data for Site Associated PFAS.
5.1 HFPO-DA Empirical Data
Laboratory measurements of several HFPO-DA physicochemical properties were performed in
2008 and 2011 by DuPont (Bloxham, 2008; DuPont, 2011). Some of these measurements refer to
HFPO-DA ammonium salt as a starting material. The HFPO-DA ammonium salt dissociates to
HFPO-DA and an ammonium ion in water, therefore the results from these experiments are
considered to be descriptive of HFPO-DA. Additionally, several experimental studies are
summarized by The Netherlands (2019). The results of these measurements are presented in Table
2. The primary observations from these data are as follows:
The coefficients that describe partitioning of HFPO-DA between water and the organic
fractions of soil and sludge (i.e., KOC values) have been estimated at 12.0 and 12.6 L/kg,
respectively;
HFPO-DA has a pKa between 2.45 and 2.84. This indicates that it will be deprontonated
at environmental pH;
HFPO-DA and HFPO-DA ammonium salt are completely soluble in water.
These observations are consistent with the expected effects of structural properties on HFPO-DA
fate and transport that are described in Section 0.
5.2 Liquid Chromatography Retention Times
Site Associated PFAS retention time data from a liquid chromatograph (LC) experiment performed
by the Chemours Fluoroproducts analytical group are presented in Table 3. Retention times
presented are the time required for the Site Associated PFAS to travel through an LC column with
a hydrophobic stationary phase. The mobile phase is the solvent in which the PFAS were dissolved
and which carried the PFAS through the LC column. Compounds that interact less strongly with
the column material pass through the column more quickly. LC retention times provide an
indication of relative anticipated environmental mobility between Site Associated PFAS.
The distribution of retention times suggests that Site Associated PFAS may exhibit differential
mobility in soil and sediment depending on the compound. Given sufficient organic carbon to act
as a sorbent, some of the PFAS compounds will migrate more rapidly through the environment
while others will be subject to more sorption and retardation along transport pathways.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 15 June 2019
6. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY
The PFAS associated with the Chemours Fayetteville Works Site are characterized primarily by
the presence of ether bonds, i.e. two carbons connected by an oxygen atom. Currently, the Site
ssociated PFAS have limited publicly available, peer-reviewed literature describing their fate and
transport. The understanding of anticipated fate and transport of Site Associated PFAS presented
in this report was based on combining A) peer-reviewed studies for other PFAS chemicals that are
generally linear, perfluorinated, and lacking ether bonds with B) the studies that describe how
different PFAS chemical features may affect their environmental fate and transport.
Given the diversity in Site Associated PFAS chain length, head groups, number of ether bonds,
isomer type and fluorination, the Site Associated PFAS will span a range of mobilities in
environmental media. Generally, Site Associated PFAS are expected to be mobile in the
environment given the presence of charged head groups and ether bonds, but they will experience
some retardation. For some Site Associated PFAS, mobility may be enhanced relative to straight-
chain, non-ether PFAS by their branched structure and the presence of two charged head groups.
The mobility of the Site Associated PFAS will be retarded by various chemical processes but will
likely have lower retardation than long-chain PFAS without ether bonds or other well-studied
carbon-based chemicals like PAHs and PCBs. Chemical processes expected to have the most
impact on mobility are sorption to organic carbon and, in the unsaturated soil zone, preferential
partitioning to the air water interface.
Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS 16 June 2019
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Fate and Transport of Site Associated PFAS June 2019
TABLES
TABLE 1CLASSIFICATION OF SITE ASSOCIATED PFASChemours Fayetteville Works, North CarolinaGeosyntec Consultants of NC P.C.aR-C=CaaR-CO2HbR-SO3HcPPF Acid Perfluoropropionic acid 422-64-0C3HF5O2Per 0 Linear ---- --MMF Difluoromalonic acid 1514-85-8C3H2F2O4Per 0 Linear ----DFSA Difluoro-sulfo-acetic acid 422-67-3C2H2F2O5SPer 0 Linear --HFPO-DAHexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid13252-13-6C6HF11O3Per 1 Branched ---- --PFECA-GPerfluoro-4-isopropoxybutanoicacid801212-59-9C7H1F13O1Per 1 Branched ---- --MTPPerfluoro-2-methoxypropanoicacid93449-21-9C4H4F4O3Poly 1 Linear ---- --Per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs)PFAS without ether linkagesStructureCommon Name Chemical Name CAS # FormulaDegree of FluorinationEther BondsIsomer typeDiproticdFunctional GroupsPage 1 of 4June 2019
TABLE 1CLASSIFICATION OF SITE ASSOCIATED PFASChemours Fayetteville Works, North CarolinaGeosyntec Consultants of NC P.C.aR-C=CaaR-CO2HbR-SO3HcStructureCommon Name Chemical Name CAS # FormulaDegree of FluorinationEther BondsIsomer typeDiproticdFunctional GroupsPMPAPerfluoromethoxypropylcarboxylic acid13140-29-9C4HF7O3Per 1 Branched ---- --PEPAPerfluoroethoxypropylcarboxylic acid267239-61-2C5HF9O3Per 1 Branched ---- --PFMOAA Perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid 674-13-5C3HF5O3Per 1 Linear ---- --PFO2HxA Perfluoro(3,5-dioxahexanoic) acid 39492-88-1C4HF7O4Per 2 Linear ---- --PFECA BPerfluoro-3,6-dioxaheptanoicacid151772-58-6C5HF9O4Per 2 Linear ---- --PFO3OAPerfluoro(3,5,7-trioxaoctanoic)acid39492-89-2C5HF9O5Per 3 Linear ---- --PFO4DAPerfluoro(3,5,7,9-tetraoxadecanoic)acid39492-90-5C6HF11O6Per 4 Linear ---- --Page 2 of 4June 2019
TABLE 1CLASSIFICATION OF SITE ASSOCIATED PFASChemours Fayetteville Works, North CarolinaGeosyntec Consultants of NC P.C.aR-C=CaaR-CO2HbR-SO3HcStructureCommon Name Chemical Name CAS # FormulaDegree of FluorinationEther BondsIsomer typeDiproticdFunctional GroupsPFO5DAPerfluoro-3,5,7,9,11-pentaoxadodecanoic acid39492-91-6C7HF13O7Per 5 Linear ---- --Hydro-EVEAcidPerfluoroethoxsypropanoicacid773804-62-9C8H2F14O4Poly 2 Branched ---- --EVE AcidPerfluoroethoxypropionicacid69087-46-3C8HF13O4Per 2 Branched-- --R-EVE R-EVE N/AC8H2F12O5Per 1 Branched ----PESPerfluoroethoxyethanesulfonicacid113507-82-7C4HF9O4SPer 1 Linear -- ----NVHOSPerfluoroethoxysulfonicacid1132933-86-8C4H2F8O4SPoly 1 Linear -- ----Byproduct 6 Byproduct 6 N/AC6H2F12O4SPoly 1 Branched -- ----Per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acids (PFESAs)Page 3 of 4June 2019
TABLE 1CLASSIFICATION OF SITE ASSOCIATED PFASChemours Fayetteville Works, North CarolinaGeosyntec Consultants of NC P.C.aR-C=CaaR-CO2HbR-SO3HcStructureCommon Name Chemical Name CAS # FormulaDegree of FluorinationEther BondsIsomer typeDiproticdFunctional GroupsByproduct 2 Byproduct 2 749836-20-2C7H2F14O5SPoly 2 Branched -- ----PFESA-BP1 Byproduct 1 29311-67-9C7HF13O5SPer 2 Branched----Byproduct 4 Byproduct 4 N/AC7H2F12O6SPer 1 Branched --Byproduct 5 Byproduct 5 N/AC7H3F11O7SPoly 2 Branched --Notes:Per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic and carboxylic acids (PFES-CAs)d Compound with two acid functional groupsa Carbon double bond functional groupb Carboxylic acid functional groupc Sulfonic acid functional groupPage 4 of 4June 2019
TABLE 2
EMPIRICALLY MEASURED DATA FOR HEXAFLUOROPROPYLENE OXIDE DIMER ACID (HFPO-DA)
Chemours Fayetteville Works, North Carolina
Geosyntec Consultants
of NC P.C.
Parameter Abbreviation Value Unit Notes Reference
1.08 Measured for HFPO-DA
ammonium salt in soil.
1.1 Measured for HFPO-DA
ammonium salt in sludge.
2.84 ± 0.021 2
2.45 3
Density 1.683 kg L-1 19.9°C 3
Vapor pressure 306 Pa 25°C; sources agree within 1% 2, 3
Solubility in water fully soluble 2
Viscosity 4.39 mm2 s-1
Surface tension 59.4 mN m-1
References:
1- Bloxham, P.A. 2008. Trade secret documented in Study Number DuPont-17568-1675.
Notes:
°C - celsius mN m-1 - millinewtons per meter
% - percent mm - millimeters
kg L-1 - kilograms per liter mm s-1 - millimeters per second
Pa - pascals
M - moles per liter
Critical micelle
concentration CMC
2- The Netherlands. 2019. Annex XV Report: Proposal for identification of a substance of very high concern on the basis of the
criteria set out in REACH Article 57. Accessed online at https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/ef1b1606-b234-2ce5-e159-
2ab89d61bfbc. Experiments noted in this reference generally used an acid form with a purity of 98%.
3- DuPont. 2011. Discussion of Results: FRD903 Physical and Chemical Data and FRD902 Physical and Chemical Data. DuPont
Document PM-W-726.
0.135 - 0.2 M
3
Acid dissociation
constant pKa
1
Organic carbon
partitioning
coefficient
Log Koc
June 2019
TABLE 3
SITE ASSOCIATED PFAS LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY ELUTION TIMES
Chemours Fayetteville Works, North Carolina
Geosyntec Consultants
of NC P.C.
Common Namea CAS # Retention Time (min)
DFSA 422-67-3 0.268
MMF 1514-85-8 0.271
MTP 93449-21-9 0.37
PPF Acid 422-64-0 0.394
PFMOAA 674-13-5 0.437
R-EVE N/A 0.42
Byproduct 4 N/A 0.509
Byproduct 5 N/A 0.51
PMPA 13140-29-9 0.662
PFO2HxA 39492-88-1 1.046
NVHOS 1132933-86-8 1.655
PEPA 267239-61-2 1.702
PFECA B 151772-58-6 3.027
PFO3OA 39492-89-2 3.298
HFPO-DA 13252-13-6 3.386
PES 113507-82-7 3.388
PECA G 801212-59-9 3.702
PFO4DA 39492-90-5 3.794
Hydro-EVE Acid 773804-62-9 3.825
EVE Acid 69087-46-3 3.825
Byproduct 6 N/A 3.951
Byproduct 2 749836-20-2 4.072
Byproduct 1 29311-67-9 4.084
PFO5DA 39492-91-6 4.085
a Please see Table 1 for details about each chemical.
Method:
Elution times were provided by the Chemours Fluoroproducts Analytical Group. Elution times are based
on liquid samples analyzed by liquid chromatography--tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) utilizing
the Multiple Reaction Monitoring method. Liquid chromatography was performed on an Agilent 1290
Infinity II LC with 6570 Triple Quad MS instrument with an Agilent InfinityLab Poroshell 120 EC-C18
(2.1 x 50 mm, 2.7 µm) analytical column, an Agilent Infinity Lab Poroshell 120 EC-C18 (2.1 x 5 mm,
2.7 µm) as the guard column, a Restek Ultra Aqueous C18 (4.6 x 50 mm, 5 µm) as the trapping column,
and an Agilent Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 (4.6 x 50 mm, 3.5 µm) as the delay column. Initial eluent
conditions were 85% mobile phase A (2 mM Ammonium Acetate in 5:95 Acetonitrile: Water) and 15%
of mobile phase B (Acetonitrile) for the first 1 mins. Then mobile phase B is ramped up to 90% at 5 mins,
and held for 1.40 mins. Then Mobile phase B is ramped down again to the initial state at 6.50 mins.
June 2019