Because of their innate chemical stability, the ubiquitous perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been dubbed "forever chemicals" and have attracted considerable attention. However, their stability under environmental conditions has not been widely verified. Herein, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a widely used and detected PFAS, was found to be spontaneously degraded in aqueous microdroplets under room temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions. This unexpected fast degradation occurred via a unique multicycle redox reaction of PFOA with interfacial reactive species on the droplet surface. Similar degradation was observed for other PFASs. This study extends the current understanding of the environmental fate and chemistry of PFASs and provides insight into aid in the development of effective methods for removing PFASs.
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Article Synopsis
- * The study compared virgin (new) MPs to aged MPs to see how aging affects their ability to absorb PFAS, finding that aged MPs had significant changes in surface characteristics and exhibited higher sorption capacity for PFAS.
- * The results indicate that aged MPs become more effective carriers of contaminants due to their altered physical-chemical properties and biofilm development, suggesting more complex mechanisms at play compared to virgin MPs.
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