Non-extractable PFAS in functional textiles – characterization by complementary methods: oxidation, hydrolysis, and fluorine sum parameters

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used for durable water-repellent finishing of different fabrics and textiles such as outdoor clothing, carpets, medical textiles and more. Existing PFAS extraction techniques followed by target analysis are often insufficient for detecting widely used side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFPs) that are barely or non-extractable. SFPs are typically copolymers consisting of a non-fluorinated backbone with perfluoroalkyl side-chains to obtain desired properties. We compared the accessible analytical information and performance of complementary techniques based on oxidation (dTOP and PhotoTOP assays), hydrolysis (THP assay), standard extraction, extractable organic fluorine (EOF), and total fluorine (TF) with five functional textiles and characterized 7 further textiles only by PhotoTOP oxidation. The results show that when applied directly to textile samples, dTOP and PhotoTOP oxidation and also hydrolysis (THP) are able to capture large fractions of TF in the form of perfluoroalkyl side-chains present in the textiles while methods relying on extracts (EOF, target and non-target analysis) yield much lower fractions of TF (e.g., factor ∼25–50 lower). The conversion of large fractions of the measured TF into PFCAs or FTOHs from fluorinated side chains is in contrast to previous studies. Concentrations ranged from <LOQ to over ∼1000 mg F kg⁻¹ after oxidation/hydrolysis and <LOQ to over 2000 mg F kg⁻¹ for TF, while EOF and target PFAS in extracts were detected at much lower concentrations (up to ∼60 mg F kg⁻¹) (amount of fluorine is in the order: extraction ≪ EOF ≪ oxidation/hydrolysis ≤ TF). Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) from THP hydrolysis and PhotoTOP oxidation both represented chain-length distribution in the textiles showing that long-chain SFPs are still used in current textiles. Further advantages and disadvantages of the applied methods are discussed.