Document a1KVbMwaxqma8YbGZvGrqamXN
Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry Summary of DuPont Presentations
AR226-3341
SETAC North America November, 2002 Salt Lake City, UT
Environmental fate studies of fluorotelomer intermediates used to produce surfactants and polymers.
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Berti, W.R.1, Wang, N .\ Cobranchi, D.P.1, Larsen, B.S.1, Szostek, B.2, Kaiser, M .A ., Gannon, J.T. and Buck, R.C.
'DuPont Central Research & Development. 2DuPont Haskell Lab. 3DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise.
ABSTRACT- Fluorotelomer intermediates, such as the Telomer B 8-2 Alcohol [CF3(CF2)7CH2CH2OH], are used to
manufacture surfactants and polymers, which provide unique properties in a wide variety o f consumer products.
Fluorotelomer intermediates were selected for study because they are thought to be among the compounds into
which the surfactant and polymer products may potentially degrade. Measured water-solubility and vapor pressure
o f this and three other purified and well-characterized intermediates [CF3(CF2)nCH2CH2X, where n = 5 or 7 and X =
OH or I] are from about 50 times to more than 600 times different from values estimated by a commonly available
environmental fate model. Furthermore, these compounds have been shown to adsorb strongly onto surfaces and, as
such, require rigorous method development for sampling, measurement, and recovery. The Telomer B 8-2 Alcohol
is not toxic to aerobic microorganisms at concentrations o f at least 10 mg L 1(measured water solubility is about 140
g L '1 ). This presentation will summarize environmental fate studies conducted by DuPont, including partitioning
and hydrolysis studies. The results of metabolism studies o f the Telomer 8-2 Alcohol using activated sludge as the
microbial inocculum will be reported. We will also discuss the steps being taking to directly study the environmental
fate of fluorotelomer-based surfactants and polymers.
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