Melissa M. Schultz

TL;DR: Mass flows of the 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate were unchanged as a result of wastewater treatment, which indicates that conventional wastewater treatment is not effective for removal of these compounds.

TL;DR: A review of the analysis and occurrence of fluorinated alkyl substances that have been observed in the environment can be found in this paper, where the authors focus on the analysis of perfluorooctane sulfonate.

TL;DR: A direct-injection, liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC MS/MS) method was developed to quantify a suite of fluorotelomer sulfonate surfactants in groundwater collected from military bases where fire-training activities were conducted, and analyses indicate that the AFFF concentrate contains only a small amount of fluoroalkylthioamido sulfonates, the main anionic fluorosurfactant in the mixtures.

TL;DR: In 9 out of the 10 plants sampled, at least one class of fluorinated alkyl substances exhibited increased concentrations in the effluent as compared to the influent concentrations, and in some instances, decreases in certain fluorinated analyte concentrations were observed and attributed to sorption to sludge.

TL;DR: Fast atom bombardment/mass spectrometry (FAB/MS) remains the fastest technique for identifying surfactants in complex mixtures because no sample preparation is required as mentioned in this paper. But this information is needed to design studies that monitor the occurrence and fate of all the components of specialty chemical formulations that enter the environment and pose a risk toward aquatic organisms.