Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects
Recent stringent drinking water quality standards create challenges for water utilities to meet these standards. Advanced treatment techniques will have to be applied on many drinking water production locations to meet these quality standards. This study investigated the sorption of per- and polyflu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024011617 |
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| author | Mohammad Sadia Lola Beltrán Beut Marko Pranić Annemarie P.van Wezel Thomas L.ter Laak |
| author_facet | Mohammad Sadia Lola Beltrán Beut Marko Pranić Annemarie P.van Wezel Thomas L.ter Laak |
| author_sort | Mohammad Sadia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent stringent drinking water quality standards create challenges for water utilities to meet these standards. Advanced treatment techniques will have to be applied on many drinking water production locations to meet these quality standards. This study investigated the sorption of per- and polyfluorinated-alkyl substances (PFAS) onto granular activated carbon (GAC). The study was performed at environmentally relevant PFAS concentrations and a realistic water-to-GAC ratio, providing a realism often overlooked in existing studies. Three different forms of GAC were evaluated, differing in micropore and mesopore structures. Tap water spiked with 5 ng/L of each of 31 PFAS was used in the sorption experiments, i.e. perfluorocarboxylic acids (C4–C12), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSA, C5–C10) including linear and branched isomers, and three groups of PFAS precursors (per-/polyfluoroalkyl ether acids, sulfonamides, and sulfonamide acetic acids).The three studied GAC did not exhibit distinct differences in PFAS sorption. The removal of PFAS was below 50 % for most studied PFAS, except for the short-chain PFAS precursors. Sorption was affected by both the carbon chain length and functional groups for PFAS, while this was not observed for PFAS precursors. The presence of ether linkages and sulfonamide groups notably enhanced sorption. Linear and branched PFSA demonstrated similar sorption behavior, whereas branched isomers of the sulfonamide acetic acid precursors exhibited significantly higher sorption. This indicates that sorption was determined by both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.Given the relatively low PFAS removal by GAC under environmentally relevant test conditions, further improvements in sorbents are required to ensure that PFAS concentrations in produced drinking water comply with drinking water standards. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:11:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-604e356bcd4c48978281479d943aed5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:11:07Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-604e356bcd4c48978281479d943aed5d2024-02-17T06:39:43ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402024-02-01103e25130Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effectsMohammad Sadia0Lola Beltrán Beut1Marko Pranić2Annemarie P.van Wezel3Thomas L.ter Laak4Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author.Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsEnvironmental Technology, Wageningen University, Bornse Weilanden 9, 6708WG, Wageningen, the NetherlandsInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; KWR Water Research Institute, Groningenhaven 7, 3430BB Nieuwegein, the NetherlandsRecent stringent drinking water quality standards create challenges for water utilities to meet these standards. Advanced treatment techniques will have to be applied on many drinking water production locations to meet these quality standards. This study investigated the sorption of per- and polyfluorinated-alkyl substances (PFAS) onto granular activated carbon (GAC). The study was performed at environmentally relevant PFAS concentrations and a realistic water-to-GAC ratio, providing a realism often overlooked in existing studies. Three different forms of GAC were evaluated, differing in micropore and mesopore structures. Tap water spiked with 5 ng/L of each of 31 PFAS was used in the sorption experiments, i.e. perfluorocarboxylic acids (C4–C12), perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSA, C5–C10) including linear and branched isomers, and three groups of PFAS precursors (per-/polyfluoroalkyl ether acids, sulfonamides, and sulfonamide acetic acids).The three studied GAC did not exhibit distinct differences in PFAS sorption. The removal of PFAS was below 50 % for most studied PFAS, except for the short-chain PFAS precursors. Sorption was affected by both the carbon chain length and functional groups for PFAS, while this was not observed for PFAS precursors. The presence of ether linkages and sulfonamide groups notably enhanced sorption. Linear and branched PFSA demonstrated similar sorption behavior, whereas branched isomers of the sulfonamide acetic acid precursors exhibited significantly higher sorption. This indicates that sorption was determined by both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions.Given the relatively low PFAS removal by GAC under environmentally relevant test conditions, further improvements in sorbents are required to ensure that PFAS concentrations in produced drinking water comply with drinking water standards.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024011617PFAS and PFAS precursor sorptionGACReactivated GACSorption mechanismsDrinking water production |
| spellingShingle | Mohammad Sadia Lola Beltrán Beut Marko Pranić Annemarie P.van Wezel Thomas L.ter Laak Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects Heliyon PFAS and PFAS precursor sorption GAC Reactivated GAC Sorption mechanisms Drinking water production |
| title | Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects |
| title_full | Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects |
| title_fullStr | Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects |
| title_short | Sorption of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions: Insights into sorbent variability and PFAS structural effects |
| title_sort | sorption of per and poly fluoroalkyl substances and their precursors on activated carbon under realistic drinking water conditions insights into sorbent variability and pfas structural effects |
| topic | PFAS and PFAS precursor sorption GAC Reactivated GAC Sorption mechanisms Drinking water production |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024011617 |
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