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1H a - Perfluorinated Substances (WE6/1) Polyfluorination Results in Volatile and Persistent Chemicals with High Transport Potential. Mabury, Scott1, Ellis, David1, Martin, Jonathan1, Stock, Naomi1, Smithwick, Marla2, Muir, Derek2, 1 University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada2 National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, Canada ABSTRACT- A significant proportion of new synthetic chemicals incorporate fluorine as an important architectural component to alter physical/chemical properties such as reactivity or volatility. Generally viewed as highly stable, the carbon-fluorine bond under most environmental conditions resists cleavage and contributes to overall environmental persistence. A few examples will be examined, where scission of the bond is relatively fascile, in order to highlight the novelty of these pathways. We have shown that perfluorination of alkyl chains can lead to highly persistent and bioaccumulative compounds with no known degradation pathways. Further, polyfluorination results in a rigid alkyl chain that yields surprisingly volatile chemicals that have the potential for significant and rapid transport to remote regions. It is currently unknown what the volatile precursor are to explain the occurrence of relatively high concentrations of long chain perfluorinated acids in remote regions. This talk will explore the change in physical, chemical, and reactivity properties resulting from the incorporation of fluorine and outline current research questions. Key words: physical chemical properties, fluorinated chemicals, persistent, transport |
