Aqueous photolysis of 8:2 fluorotelomer alcohol.

The 8:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (8:2 FTOH) was photodegraded in aqueous hydrogen peroxide solutions, synthetic field water (SFW) systems, and Lake Ontario (Canada) water samples. It was found to undergo indirect photolysis, with the data suggesting that the hydroxyl radical was the main degradation agent and that nitrate promoted photolysis whereas dissolved organic carbon inhibited it. The half-lives of 8:2 FTOH were 0.83 +/- 0.20 h (10 mM H2O2), 38.0 +/- 6.0 h (100 microM H2O2), 30.5 +/- 8.0 to 163.1 +/- 3.0 h (SFW systems), and 93.2 +/- 10.0 h (Lake Ontario). No significant loss of the parent compound by direct photolysis could be observed. The major monitored products were the 8:2 fluorotelomer aldehyde, the 8:2 fluorotelomer acid (8:2 FTCA), and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA); the minor monitored products were the 8:2 fluorotelomer unsaturated acid (8:2 FTUCA) and perfluorononanoate (PFNA). The intermediates, 8:2 FTCA and 8:2 FTUCA, were photodegraded to verify the degradation pathway, and a mechanism for the photolysis was proposed whereby the end products of the photolysis pathway were PFOA (major) and PFNA (minor).