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The current treatment of water contaminated with organic compounds includes adsorption, air stripping, and advanced oxidation processes. These methods large quantities of water and require excessive energy and time. A novel treatment process of concentrating and then electrochemically oxidizing compound would be a more feasible practice. This research investigated the oxidative destruction of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and trichloroethene (TCE) at boron-doped diamond film electrodes and the adsorption of PFOS and PFBS on granular activated carbon and ion exchange resins.Experiments measuring oxidation rates of PFOS and PFBS were performed over a range in current densities and temperatures using a rotating disk electrode (RDE) reactor and a parallel plate flow-through reactor. Oxidation of PFOS was rapid and yielded sulfate, fluoride, carbon dioxide and trace levels of trifluoroacetic acid. Oxidation of PFBS was slower than that of PFOS. A comparison of the experimentally measured apparent activation energy with those calculated using Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies indicated that the most likely rate-limiting step for PFOS and PFBS oxidation was direct electron transfer. The costs for treating PFOS and PFBS solutions were compared and showed that PFOS is cheaper to degrade than PFBS.Screening studies were performed to find a viable adsorbent or ion exchange resin for concentrating PFOS or PFBS. Granular activated carbon F400 (GAC-F400) and an ion exchange resin, Amberlite IRA-458, were the best methods for adsorbing PFOS. Ionic strength experiments showed that the solubility of the compounds affected the adsorption onto solid phases. Regeneration experiments were carried out to determine the best method of recovering these compounds from the adsorbents; however, the compounds could not be effectively removed from the adsorbents using standard techniques.The electrochemical oxidation of trichloroethene (TCE) at boron-doped diamond film electrodes was studied to determine if this would be a viable degradation method for chlorinated solvents. Flow-through experiments were performed and showed TCE oxidation to be very rapid. Comparing the data from the DFT studies and the experimentally calculated apparent activation energies the mechanism for TCE oxidation was determined to be controlled by both direct electron transfer and oxidation via hydroxyl radicals.

Thesis (DTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / This study represents the first monitoring campaign to assess the seasonal trend of nine perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in surface water and sediment from the Plankenburg and Diep Rivers in the Western Cape, South Africa. An analytical protocol was developed and validated for qualitative and quantitative routine determination of nine perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), in water and sediment samples using Ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry quadrupole time of flight (UPLC-QTOF-MS). This method was applied to determine levels of PFOA and PFOS in environmental samples. Samples were collected along the Diep (Milnerton) and Plankenburg (Stellenbosch) Rivers respectively. Samples were pre-treated, cleaned-up and extracted using solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedures with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) C-18 cartridges. Seasonal variation and distribution of PFCs in surface water and sediment was also investigated. Levels of PFCs were monitored in four seasons (summer, autumn, winter and spring) to establish their trend in the environment. The removal of PFOA and PFOS from aqueous solutions using agro-waste biomass of Vitis vinifera (grape) leaf litter was also studied. Activated carbons were produced from the biomass and chemical activation achieved with phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) for the modification of the carbons’ (AC-H3PO4 and AC-KOH respectively). Activated carbons were characterized using Fourier Transform infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) in order to understand the removal mechanisms of the contaminants by activated carbons. The effects of solution concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and the temperature were optimized for evaluation of the removal efficiency of the activated carbons. Adsorption isotherm models were used to analyze the equilibrium data obtained and kinetic models were applied to study sorption mechanisms. A fixed bed column study was conducted using: AC-H3PO4 adsorbent. Experimental parameters such as initial concentration of the solution, column bed height, flow rate and initial concentrations of the influent were optimized to establish the best adsorption efficiency parameters of the column system. Breakthrough curve and exhaustion time were predicted using Adam-Bohart, Yoon-Nelson, and Thomas models for the fixed bed column under varying experimental conditions.

In rivers, association of organic contaminants with dissolved organic carbon may limit freely dissolved or bioavailable fractions and toxicity of organic contaminants. Consequently, assessment of toxicity of organic contaminants on the basis of their total chemical concentrations may lead to overestimation of risks to organic contaminants. Therefore, to achieve reliable and accurate risks assessment for organic contaminants, determination of bioavailability is important. The influence of humic acid on the bioavailability of organic contaminants in rivers was studied, using three chemicals with different properties as model contaminants, which at the start of the study were detected in wastewater effluents. It was hypothesized that in the presence of dissolved organic carbon, a fraction of the total concentration of an organic contaminant would not be bioavailable in river water. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine bioavailability and its impact on toxicity. Bioavailability in the presence of humic acid was determined chemically and using a yeast estrogen screen assay. The chemical method comprised solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine freely dissolved and the fraction of the chemicals associated with dissolved organic carbon. The results indicated increased binding to dissolved organic carbon with the hydrophobicity of the test compounds except for perfluorooctane sulfonate. The dissolved organic carbon-water partition coefficient for ethinylestradiol was determined to be Log KDOC 2.36. Log KDOC values of 4.15 and 4.41 at 10 and 100 mg/L humic acid, respectively, were derived for hexabromocyclododecane indicating greater binding than ethinylestradiol due to the more hydrophobic character. The yeast estrogen screen was used as a biological method to measure the effect of humic acid on the bioavailability of ethinylestradiol and a more hydrophobic compound, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Results of the yeast estrogen screen indicated that the presence of humic acid had no effect on bioavailability of either of the chemicals.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is widely used in industrial products and is potentially dangerous to the aquatic environment due to not being broken down whether by chemical or biological means, having a half-life of more than 41 years and disrupting hormones. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is the third most used brominated flame retardant and is of environmental concern as it bioaccumulates and magnifies in the food chain and is highly toxic to aquatic organisms. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of PFOS and HBCD on the embryos of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) by analyzing lipid profiles with UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS. The fish embryos were treated with various concentrations of PFOS and HBCD (0.058-58 μg/l and 0.014-14 μg/l respectively) with DMSO as carrier solvent and then extracted after homogenization with 0.9% NaCl-solution followed by addition of ISTD mixture, methanol, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and MQ-water. The raw data was processed with MZmine-2.32. 153 lipids were identified with the main lipids consisting of glycerophospholipids and triacylglycerols. A two-tailed t-test was used to study the impact of the chemical exposure on the embryos, where p-values below 0.05 were lipids considered as significant change. The HBCD exposure caused significant change in various triacylglycerols, whereas PFOS exposure caused significant change in triacylglycerols as well as in glycerophospholipids such as PC(O-38:5) and LPC(20:4). The results were in alignment with previous studies.

Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), manufactured for a variety of industrial and consumer applications, are ubiquitous environmental pollutants. Their accumulation in humans and wildlife raises serious health concerns. Here, we examined the potential effects of PFOA and PFOS on the innate immune system in mice. Short-term dietary exposure to high doses reduces the total number and subpopulations of circulating white blood cells. Moreover, production of proinflammatory cytokines by macrophages in the peritoneal cavity and bone marrow, but not in the spleen following exposure to in vitro or in vivo stimulation by bacterial lipopolysaccharides is enhanced. With respect to adaptive immunity, PFOS reduces the total numbers of thymocytes and splenocytes and subpopulations thereof in a dose dependent fashion. Furthermore, comparison of wild-type mice and the corresponding knock-out strain lacking peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha revealed that these immunological changes are partially dependent on this receptor. Our further studies also show that sub-chronic dietary exposure to an environmentally relevant dose of PFOS does not alter the cellularity of the thymus and spleen and exerts no influence on humoral immune responses. To facilitate examination of the effects of PFOA and PFOS on the hepatic immune system, we developed a procedure for mechanical disruption that yields a larger number of functionally competent immune cells from this organ. In our last study, lower doses of PFOA or PFOS induced hypertrophy of hepatocytes and altered the hepatic immune status. Thus, we find that short-term, high- and low-dose exposure of mice to these fluorochemicals is immunohepatotoxic. / Perfluorooktanat (PFOA) och perfluorooktansulfonat (PFOS) som tillverkas för många olika industri och konsumentprodukter, är globalt förekommande miljögifter. Deras ackumulering i människor och djur ger upphov till en stark oro för hälsoproblem. Vi har granskat effekterna av PFOA och PFOS på det medfödda, ospecifika immunförsvaret. Exponering för höga doser via maten under kort tid minskar det totala antalet cirkulerande vita blodkroppar samt delpopulationerna.. Immunsvaret ökar dock efter stimulering med bakteriella lipopolysaccharider både in vitro och in vivo , dvs produktionen av proinflammatoriska cytokiner av makrofager i bukhålan och benmärgen, men inte i mjälten ökar.. När det gäller adaptiv, specifik immunitet minskar PFOS det totala antalet tymocyter och splenocyter och deras olika subpopulationer. Vid exponering för lägre doser av PFOS induceras hepatomegali utan att påverka tymus eller mjälten.   Vi kunde visa att peroxisomal proliferator-aktiverad receptor-alfa medierar effekterna utav PFOS i tymus samt delar av effekterna av PFOS i mjälten genom att använda möss som saknade denna receptor. . Dettastöds av vår studie med subkronisk exponering för en miljömässig dos av PFOS vilken inte ändrade den cellulära sammansättningen i vare sig  tymus eller mjälte och inte hade  något inflytande på det humorala immunsvaret. För att underlätta studier av hur PFOA och PFOS påverkar immunsystemet i levern utvecklade vi en metod för framrening av immunceller via mekanisk sönderdelning av levern, vilket gavett större antal av funktionella  immunceller från detta organ. I vår sista studie kunde vi påvisa att lägre doser av PFOA eller PFOS inducerade hypertrofi av hepatocyter samt en påverkan av leverns immunförsvar.

学位授与大学：京都大学 ; 取得学位: 博士(工学) ; 学位授与年月日: 2007-09-25 ; 学位の種類: 新制・課程博士 ; 学位記番号: 工博第2850号 ; 請求記号: 新制/工/1419 ; 整理番号: 25535 / Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第13379号 / 工博第2850号 / 新制||工||1419(附属図書館) / 25535 / UT51-2007-Q780 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科都市環境工学専攻 / (主査)教授 田中 宏明, 教授 藤井 滋穂, 教授 伊藤 禎彦 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are a group of chemical surfactants most notably used in non-stick and stain-resistance applications. Due to their wide-spread use and inherent resistance to degradation, several PFCs have become persistent environmental contaminants. Despite the high concentrations of PFCs reported in wild birds and their eggs, very little is known about the toxicological effects they have on avian species. This thesis investigates the developmental toxicity of PFCs in an avian model species: the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). Egg injection experiments were performed to assess the in ovo toxicity of perfluorooctane sulfonate (technical grade, T-PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA). Real-time RT-PCR was then used to measure the transcription of candidate biomarker genes in the liver tissue of day 20 embryos. Candidate genes were selected based on their responsiveness to PFC exposure in previously conducted in vitro screening assays. In ovo exposure to PFOS resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in embryo pipping success (a measure of hatching success) with an LD50 of 93 μg/g (3.54 μg/g-672,910 μg/g, 95% confidence interval), however the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα)-regulated genes was not affected in liver tissue as hypothesized. PFOA, PFDS and PFUdA had no effect on the pipping success of chicken embryos. The expression of cytochrome P450 1A4 (CYP1A4) and liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) mRNA increased in embryo liver tissue following in ovo exposure to PFUdA but was only statistically significant at 10 μg/g, which is several orders of magnitude higher than concentrations reported in wild bird eggs. The isomer-specific accumulation of PFOS in chicken embryo livers was also investigated using an in-port derivatization gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Prior to incubation, chicken eggs were injected with T-PFOS, composed of 63% linear isomer (L-PFOS) and 37.3% branched isomers. The isomer profiles in day-20 embryo liver tissue showed up to 20% enrichment in the proportion of L-PFOS, compared to T-PFOS, with a corresponding decrease in the proportion of branched isomers. This enrichment was inversely proportional to dose. Finally, the transcriptional profiles of cultured chicken embryonic hepatocytes (CEH) exposed to either T-PFOS or L-PFOS were compared using Agilent 4x44k Chicken (V2) Gene Expression microarrays. At equal concentrations (10 μM), T-PFOS altered the expression of significantly more genes (340 genes, >1.5 fold change, false discovery rate adjusted p<0.05) compared to L-PFOS (130 genes). Functional analysis showed that L-PFOS and T-PFOS affected genes involved in lipid metabolism, cellular growth and proliferation, and cell-cell signaling. Pathway and interactome analysis suggested that gene expression may be affected through RXR, oxidative stress response, TP53 signaling, MYC signaling, Wnt/β-catenin signaling and PPARγ and SREBP receptors. In all functional categories and pathways examined, T-PFOS had a more pronounced disruptive effect on transctional regulation than L-PFOS. In summary, egg injection experiments showed that T-PFOS (but not linear PFOA, PFDS or PFUdA) may affect the hatching success of the chicken at environmentally relevant concentrations. It was also demonstrated that the accumulation of PFOS in embryonic liver is isomer specific, and leads to an enrichment of L-PFOS. The increased transcriptional disruption caused by T-PFOS in cultured hepatocytes over L-PFOS suggests that the branched isomers may be largely responsible for the toxicological effects of PFOS. Combined, the results from this thesis demonstrate the importance of considering PFOS isomer burdens during risk assessment. In addition, gene expression analysis identified several candidate mechanisms for PFOS toxicity.

Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) are a group of chemical surfactants most notably used in non-stick and stain-resistance applications. Due to their wide-spread use and inherent resistance to degradation, several PFCs have become persistent environmental contaminants. Despite the high concentrations of PFCs reported in wild birds and their eggs, very little is known about the toxicological effects they have on avian species. This thesis investigates the developmental toxicity of PFCs in an avian model species: the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). Egg injection experiments were performed to assess the in ovo toxicity of perfluorooctane sulfonate (technical grade, T-PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorodecane sulfonate (PFDS) and perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA). Real-time RT-PCR was then used to measure the transcription of candidate biomarker genes in the liver tissue of day 20 embryos. Candidate genes were selected based on their responsiveness to PFC exposure in previously conducted in vitro screening assays. In ovo exposure to PFOS resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in embryo pipping success (a measure of hatching success) with an LD50 of 93 μg/g (3.54 μg/g-672,910 μg/g, 95% confidence interval), however the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα)-regulated genes was not affected in liver tissue as hypothesized. PFOA, PFDS and PFUdA had no effect on the pipping success of chicken embryos. The expression of cytochrome P450 1A4 (CYP1A4) and liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) mRNA increased in embryo liver tissue following in ovo exposure to PFUdA but was only statistically significant at 10 μg/g, which is several orders of magnitude higher than concentrations reported in wild bird eggs. The isomer-specific accumulation of PFOS in chicken embryo livers was also investigated using an in-port derivatization gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Prior to incubation, chicken eggs were injected with T-PFOS, composed of 63% linear isomer (L-PFOS) and 37.3% branched isomers. The isomer profiles in day-20 embryo liver tissue showed up to 20% enrichment in the proportion of L-PFOS, compared to T-PFOS, with a corresponding decrease in the proportion of branched isomers. This enrichment was inversely proportional to dose. Finally, the transcriptional profiles of cultured chicken embryonic hepatocytes (CEH) exposed to either T-PFOS or L-PFOS were compared using Agilent 4x44k Chicken (V2) Gene Expression microarrays. At equal concentrations (10 μM), T-PFOS altered the expression of significantly more genes (340 genes, >1.5 fold change, false discovery rate adjusted p<0.05) compared to L-PFOS (130 genes). Functional analysis showed that L-PFOS and T-PFOS affected genes involved in lipid metabolism, cellular growth and proliferation, and cell-cell signaling. Pathway and interactome analysis suggested that gene expression may be affected through RXR, oxidative stress response, TP53 signaling, MYC signaling, Wnt/β-catenin signaling and PPARγ and SREBP receptors. In all functional categories and pathways examined, T-PFOS had a more pronounced disruptive effect on transctional regulation than L-PFOS. In summary, egg injection experiments showed that T-PFOS (but not linear PFOA, PFDS or PFUdA) may affect the hatching success of the chicken at environmentally relevant concentrations. It was also demonstrated that the accumulation of PFOS in embryonic liver is isomer specific, and leads to an enrichment of L-PFOS. The increased transcriptional disruption caused by T-PFOS in cultured hepatocytes over L-PFOS suggests that the branched isomers may be largely responsible for the toxicological effects of PFOS. Combined, the results from this thesis demonstrate the importance of considering PFOS isomer burdens during risk assessment. In addition, gene expression analysis identified several candidate mechanisms for PFOS toxicity.