PFAS occurrence and distribution in yard waste compost indicate potential volatile loss, downward migration, and transformation

Abstract

We discovered high concentrations of PFAS (18.53 ± 1.5 μg kg⁻¹) in yard waste compost, a compost type widely acceptable to the public. Seventeen out of forty targeted PFAS, belonging to six PFAS classes were detected in yard waste compost, with PFCAs (13.51 ± 0.99 μg kg⁻¹) and PFSAs (4.13 ± 0.19 μg kg⁻¹) being the dominant classes, comprising approximately 72.5% and 22.1% of the total measured PFAS. Both short-chain PFAS, such as PFBA, PFHxA, and PFBS, and long-chain PFAS, such as PFOA and PFOS, were prevalent in all the tested yard waste compost samples. We also discovered the co-occurrence of PFAS with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics. Total PFAS concentrations in LDPE and PET separated from incoming yard waste were 7.41 ± 0.41 μg kg⁻¹ and 1.35 ± 0.1 μg kg⁻¹, which increased to 8.66 ± 0.81 μg kg⁻¹ in LDPE and 5.44 ± 0.56 μg kg⁻¹ in PET separated from compost. An idle mature compost pile revealed a clear vertical distribution of PFAS, with the total PFAS concentrations at the surface level approximately 58.9–63.2% lower than the 2 ft level. This difference might be attributed to the volatile loss of short-chain PFCAs, PFAS's downward movement with moisture, and aerobic transformations of precursor PFAS at the surface.