Reactivity, disposition and fate of fluorinated chemicals

全氟化酸(全氟辛烷磺酸和全氟辛烷磺酸)广泛分布于全球环境中，在人类和北极哺乳动物体内浓度很高。前驱氟醇很容易在大气中找到，并已被证明经过大气传输和OH驱动的转化反应生成全氟酸。我们已经发展了“前体酒精大气反应和传输”或PAART理论来潜在地解释这些观察结果。残留的氟醇在含氟聚合物中很重要，可能对全球负担有很大贡献，尽管我们对含氟材料中键化学的稳定性知之甚少。人类的污染是通过氟化醇的新陈代谢间接接触的来源，这表明对活性中间体的注意是谨慎的。重要的研究问题集中在确定人类接触的主要途径上。一种特殊的假设是，氟化表面活性剂，即氟化的烷基磷酸盐，从食品包装中渗出，并最终代谢产生全氟辛酸和全氟辛烷磺酸等氟化酸。我们的工作将进一步加深我们对这些材料如何造成全氟酸污染的理解，并确定解决这个问题的步骤。我们还在积极发展各种方法，以便查明使用普通检测技术遗漏的更多含氟化学品。氟化材料的使用产生了显著的社会效益，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预期质量且负面影响较少的材料。

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.