Target and Nontarget Screening of PFAS in Biosolids, Composts, and Other Organic Waste Products for Land Application in France

Zwitterionic,
cationic, and anionic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) are increasingly reported in terrestrial and aquatic environments,
but their inputs to agricultural lands are not fully understood. Here,
we characterized PFAS in 47 organic waste products (OWP) applied in
agricultural fields of France, including historical and recent materials.
Overall, 160 PFAS from 42 classes were detected from target screening
and homologue-based nontarget screening. Target PFAS were low in agriculture-derived
wastes such as pig slurry, poultry manure, or dairy cattle manure
(median ∑46PFAS: 0.66 μg/kg dry matter). Higher
PFAS levels were reported in urban and industrial wastes, paper mill
sludge, sewage sludge, or residual household waste composts (median
∑46PFAS: 220 μg/kg). Historical municipal
biosolids and composts (1976–1998) were dominated by perfluorooctanesulfonate
(PFOS), N-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamido acetic
acid (EtFOSAA), and cationic and zwitterionic electrochemical fluorination
precursors to PFOS. Contemporaneous urban OWP (2009–2017) were
rather dominated by zwitterionic fluorotelomers, which represented
on average 55% of ∑160PFAS (max: 97%). The fluorotelomer
sulfonamidopropyl betaines (X:2 FTSA-PrB, median: 110 μg/kg,
max: 1300 μg/kg) were the emerging class with the highest occurrence
and prevalence in contemporary urban OWP. They were also detected
as early as 1985. The study informs for the first time that urban
sludges and composts can be a significant repository of zwitterionic
and cationic PFAS.