RII Track-4:NSF: Characterization of Extractable Organic Fluorine as an Indicator of Total PFASs to Close the Fluorine Mass Balance in Potable Reuse Scenarios

该项目旨在弥合学术界与行业和从业者所拥有的丰富实践知识之间的差距，以阿拉巴马大学（UA）的水研究为基础。自20世纪40年代末以来，由于其理想的功能和生产能力，在工业和消费者应用中生产了全氟烷基和多氟烷基物质。目前全球市场上有4700种PFAS，但大多数研究和法规主要集中在约30种靶向PFAS上。在我们的水和废水处理设施中存在未知的PFAS污染负担。该项目将允许UA的研究人员在水塔进行研究，以学习新的PFAS表征技术，并在孤立的研究实验室之外建立行业和公用事业合作伙伴关系。本研究旨在学习一种革命性的方法来测量可提取有机氟（EOF），同时量化归因于已知PFAS的有机氟的比例，以关闭饮用水重复使用场景中的氟质量平衡。这项工作将为一名研究生提供培训，其成果将纳入本科课程和研究。通过该项目形成的研究合作将有助于发展UA的能力，推动所有公用事业标准化EOF方法的发展，为研究生和本科生的教育和培训提供额外的机会。这项研究基础设施改善轨道4 EPSCoR研究研究员（RII轨道4）项目将为阿拉巴马大学塔斯卡卢萨分校的一名助理教授提供奖学金，并为一名研究生提供培训。这项工作将与佐治亚州伯福德水塔研究所的研究人员合作进行。拟议项目的目标是与水塔建立伙伴关系，并利用其实验室和示范设施与邻近先进废水处理设施F. Wayne Hill水资源中心（WRC）的现场流量，来测试总体假设，即大量有机氟测量可以作为全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFASs, CnF2n+1-R）污染的关键指标。该项目将设法制定方法，以关闭废水处理中的氟质量平衡，其废水提供间接饮用再用处理设施。该项目将使用燃烧离子色谱法（CIC）和液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）作为表征工具来测量可提取有机氟（EOF）和靶向PFAS。开展研究计划的两个目标是：(1)与the Water Tower的研究人员建立学术合作，学习EOF-CIC和LC-MS/MS表征技术，以表征可提取的总有机氟，同时量化饮用水重复使用场景中已知PFAS的有机氟比例；(2)确定环境样品中未知PFAS的发生率，并关闭饮用水重复使用场景中的氟质量平衡。UA和水塔之间的合作将在水再利用和废水处理领域产生高质量的本科生和研究生研究机会，同时建立UA的水研究使命。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project seeks to bridge the gap between academics and the wealth of practical knowledge held by the industry and practitioners to build upon water research at the University of Alabama (UA). Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been produced since the late 1940s in industrial and consumer applications due to their desired functionality and production capability. There are currently 4,700 PFAS on the global market, yet most research and regulations primarily focus on ~30 targeted PFASs. There is an unknown burden of PFAS contamination in our water and wastewater facilities. This project will allow researchers from UA to conduct studies at the Water Tower to learn new PFAS characterization techniques and to create industry and utility partnerships outside the walls of isolated research laboratories. This research seeks to learn a transformative approach to measure extractable organic fluorine (EOF) while quantifying the proportion of organofluorine attributed to known PFAS to close the fluorine mass balance in potable reuse scenarios. This work will provide training for one graduate student, and results will be integrated into undergraduate curriculum and research. The research collaboration formed through this project will help develop capacity at UA to advance progress toward a standardized EOF method for all utilities, providing additional opportunities to educate and train graduate and undergraduate students.This Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows (RII Track-4) project will provide a fellowship to an assistant professor and training for a graduate student at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa. This work would be conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Water Tower Institute in Burford, GA. The goal of the proposed project is to create partnerships with the Water Tower and use their laboratories and demonstration facility with live flows from the adjacent advanced wastewater treatment facility, The F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center (WRC), to test the overarching hypothesis that bulk organofluorine measurements can be a key indicator of Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs, CnF2n+1-R) contamination. The project will seek to develop methods to close the fluorine mass balance in wastewater treatment whose effluent supplies an indirect potable reuse treatment facility. The project will use combustion ion-chromatography (CIC) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods that are characterization tools to measure extractable organic fluorine (EOF) and targeted PFAS. Two objectives will carry out the research plan: (1) Establish scholarly collaborations with investigators at The Water Tower and learn EOF-CIC and LC-MS/MS characterization techniques to characterize total extractable organofluorine while quantifying the proportion of organofluorine attributed to known PFAS in potable reuse scenarios, and (2) Determine the occurrence of unknown PFAS in environmental samples and close the fluorine mass balance for potable reuse scenarios. The collaboration developed between UA and The Water Tower will generate high-quality undergraduate and graduate research opportunities in the field of water reuse and wastewater treatment while building upon UA's water research mission.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.