Publications by authors named "Catharina Capitain"

Article Synopsis
  • A major fire incident in Reilingen, Germany, in 2008 resulted in the release of AFFF ingredients, causing significant soil and groundwater contamination due to the hidden nature of the surfactants used.
  • The study used an advanced extraction method with liquid chromatography to identify 124 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the contaminated soil, including 9 PFAS subclasses detected for the first time.
  • To improve clarity and consistency in communication regarding AFFF-related PFAS, the research introduced new terminology to help identify and categorize these compounds effectively.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used for durable water-repellent finishing of different fabrics and textiles such as outdoor clothing, carpets, medical textiles and more. Existing PFAS extraction techniques followed by target analysis are often insufficient for detecting widely used side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFPs) that are barely or non-extractable. SFPs are typically copolymers consisting of a non-fluorinated backbone with perfluoroalkyl side-chains to obtain desired properties.

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To unravel the complexity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products and environmental samples, sum parameters that provide relevant information on chemical characteristics are necessary since not all PFAS can be captured by target analysis in case of missing reference standards or if they are not extractable or amenable to the analytical method. Therefore, we evaluated photocatalysis (UV/TiO) as a further total oxidizable precursor approach (PhotoTOP) to characterize perfluoroalkyl acid precursors via their conversion to perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs). Photocatalysis has the advantage that no salts are needed, allowing direct injection with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry without time-consuming and potentially discriminating sample cleanup.

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