Although fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) have been detected in various environmental matrices worldwide, no studies have been conducted to evaluate their concentrations in surface water or precipitation. Therefore, we developed a sensitive and reliable method to analyze various environmental aqueous samples for the presence of trace levels of 6:2 FTOH, 8:2 FTOH, 10:2 FTOH, 8:2 FTOAcr and 8:2 FTOMethacr FTOlefin using gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry. The recoveries obtained using this method ranged from 57.8% to 78.2% and the detection limits were 0.5, 0.2, 0.2, 0.05 and 0.1 ng L(-1) for 6:2 FTOH, 8:2 FTOH, 10:2 FTOH, 8:2 FTOAcr and 8:2 FTOMethacr, respectively. Liquid and suspended phases of the examined samples were analyzed. The analysis revealed presence of telomer alcohols from the liquid phase only. Of the FTOHs evaluated, 6:2 FTOH and 8:2 FTOMethacr FTOlefin were not found in any of the environmental samples. The average concentrations of 8:2 FTOH, 10:2 FTOH and 8:2 FTOAcr of the precipitation samples were 1.97, 0.82 and 0.21 ng L(-1), respectively. In surface water samples, the highest concentrations of 8:2 FTOH, 10:2 FTOH and 8:2 FTOAcr were 3.38, 4.06 and 0.16 ng L(-1), which were observed in samples from the Daini-Neyagawa, Yamato and Kanzaki rivers, respectively. The total concentration of FTOHs in wastewater treatment plant effluents (23.2 ng L(-1)) was much higher than that of surface water (10.8 ng L(-1)). Taken together, the results of this study indicate that FTOHs released into the air contaminate rain and that those released from water disposal sites contaminate surface water.

Fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), a class of per- and poly-fluorochemicals (PFCs), are environmental contaminants characterized by high volatility and are therefore prone to long-range atmospheric transport. In this study, airborne FTOHs were identified in Japan using a newly developed passive air sampler containing activated carbon felts. Air sampling was conducted at 33 sites all over Japan from April to June 2007. 8:2 FTOH, the dominant analyte, ranged from 32 to 2466pgm(-3) (mean: 241pgm(-3)) followed by 6:2 FTOH from n.d. to 768pgm(-3) (mean: 51.6pgm(-3)), 10:2 FTOH from 17 to 113pgm(-3) (mean: 26.8pgm(-3)) and 8:2 FTOAcryl from n.d. to 480pgm(-3) (mean: 25.8pgm(-3)). 8:2 FTOMethacryl was not detected above detection limit (3pgm(-3)) in all samples. The highest concentration of total investigated PFCs was found in Chiba (35 degrees 43'20'' N 140 degrees 39'46'' E) (2152-3181pgm(-3)). On the other hand, in three locations of Higashi-Yodogawa (34 degrees 44' N 135 degrees 32' E), high levels of 8:2 FTOAcryl (239pgm(-3), 109-480pgm(-3)) were detected, the levels of which were comparable to those of 8:2 FTOH (mean: 175pgm(-3), range: 115-292pgm(-3)). This study is the first national wide-scale survey of FTOHs and 8:2 FTOAcryl across Japan, showing that 8:2 FTOH was ubiquitous in the environment in Japan