Reactivity, disposition and fate of fluorinated chemicals

全氟化酸（PFCAs和PFOS）在全球环境中广泛传播，在人类和北极哺乳动物中出现高浓度。前体氟醇很容易在大气中找到，并已证明经过大气传输和氢氧根驱动的转化反应生成全氟酸。我们发展了“前体醇大气反应和输运”或PAART理论来潜在地解释这些观察结果。残留的氟醇在氟化聚合物中占有重要地位，并可能对全球负担造成重大影响，尽管我们对氟化材料中连锁化学的稳定性知之甚少。人类污染表明，通过氟化醇的代谢是间接接触源，这表明对反应性中间体的关注是谨慎的。重要的研究问题集中在确定人类接触的主要途径上。一种特别的假设是，含氟表面活性剂，即氟化烷基磷酸盐，从食品包装中浸出，并最终代谢产生氟化酸，如全氟辛烷磺酸和全氟辛烷磺酸。我们的工作将进一步了解这些材料是如何造成全氟酸污染的，并确定解决这一问题的步骤。我们还在积极开发方法，以确定使用常用检测技术未发现的其他氟化化学品。氟化材料的使用带来了巨大的社会效益，充分认识到它们的化学反应性和命运将直接有助于开发出具有所需质量且负面后果较少的材料。

Perfluorinated acids (PFCAs and PFOS) are widely disseminated in the global environment and appear at high concentrations in humans and in Arctic mammals. Precursor fluoro-alcohols are readily found in the atmosphere and have been shown to undergo atmospheric transport and OH driven transformation reactions to yield the perfluorinated acids. We have developed the 'precursor alcohol atmospheric reaction and transport' or PAART theory to potentially explain these observations. Residual fluoro-alcohols are significant in fluorinated polymers and may contribute significantly to the global burden, though we know little about the stability of the linkage chemistry within the fluorinated materials. Human contamination is suggestive of an indirect source of exposure through metabolism of the fluorinated alcohols, which would indicate attention to the reactive intermediates is prudent. Significant research questions are focused on identifying the dominant routes of human exposure. One particular hypothesis is that fluorinated surfactants, the fluorinated alkylphosphates, leach from food packaging and are ultimately metabolized to yield the fluorinated acids such as PFOA and PFOS. Our work will further our understanding on how these materials cause perfluorinated acid pollution and identify the steps to addressing this problem. We are also actively developing methods in order to identify additional fluorinated chemicals that have been missed used common detection techniques. The utility of fluorinated materials results in significant societal benefits and a full appreciation for their chemical reactivity and fate will directly contribute to developing materials that deliver the desired qualities with fewer negative consequences.