Ocean spray is a hidden pathway for toxic 'forever chemicals' worldwide
Researchers found that sea spray aerosols are releasing persistent fluorinated pollutants back into the atmosphere at rates rivaling all known industrial sources combined. The discovery upends assumptions about where these toxic 'forever chemicals' circulate globally, with implications for air quality regulations, chemical restrictions, and long-term environmental liability across industries.
Originaltitel: Constraining global transport of perfluoroalkyl acids on sea spray aerosol using field measurements
<p>Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are highly persistent anthropogenic pollutants that have been detected in the global oceans. Our previous laboratory studies demonstrated that PFAAs in seawater are remobilized to the air in sea spray aerosols (SSAs). Here, we conducted field experiments along a north-south transect of the Atlantic Ocean to study the enrichment of PFAAs in SSA. We show that in some cases PFAAs were enriched &gt;100,000 times in the SSA relative to seawater concentrations. On the basis of the results of the field experiments, we estimate that the secondary emission of certain PFAAs from the global oceans via SSA emission is comparable to or greater than estimates for the other known global sources of PFAAs to the atmosphere from manufacturing emissions and precursor degradation.</p>