Sonochemical Degradation of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in Landfill Groundwater: Environmental Matrix Effects

Abstract

Perfluorinated chemicals such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are environmentally persistent and recalcitrant to most conventional chemical and microbial treatment technologies. In this paper, we show that sonolysis is able to decompose PFOS and PFOA present in groundwater beneath a landfill. However, the pseudo first-order rate constant for the sonochemical degradation in the landfill groundwater is reduced by 61 and 56% relative to MilliQ water for PFOS and PFOA, respectively, primarily due to the presence of other organic constituents. In this study, we evaluate the effect of various organic compounds on the sonochemical decomposition rates of PFOS and PFOA. Organic components in environmental matrices may reduce the sonochemical degradation rates of PFOS and PFOA by competitive adsorption onto the bubble−water interface or by lowering the average interfacial temperatures during transient bubble collapse events. The effect of individual organic compounds depends on the Langmuir adsorption constant, the Henry’s law constant, the specific heat capacity, and the overall endothermic heat of dissociation. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are identified as the primary cause of the sonochemical rate reduction for PFOS and PFOA in landfill groundwater, whereas the effect of dissolved natural organic matter (DOM) is not significant. Finally, a combined process of ozonation and sonolysis is shown to substantially recover the rate loss for PFOS and PFOA in landfill groundwater.