Dynamics of perfluorinated compounds in environmental compartments: modeling, microcosms and monitoring

• Grant number: 21/12427-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Lucia Helena Gomes Coelho
• Grantee: Lucia Helena Gomes Coelho
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandre Uezu ; Flávia de Sousa Gehrke ; Joanne Boyd Roberts ; Leandro Reverberi Tambosi ; Ricardo Hideo Taniwaki ; Roseli Frederigi Benassi ; Tatiane Araujo de Jesus

Abstract

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of synthetic chemicals with high chemical stability and surfactant properties, known as "forever chemical" for their recalcitrance. In recent decades, PFAS have been detected globally in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, with perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) being the most common compound. After being included in Annex B of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the use of PFAS was limited to specific purposes, including the manufacture of anticide baits. The main compound for this application is N-ethyl-perfluoro-octanesulfonamide, popularly known as Sulfluramid and manipulated as an active ingredient in the chemical control of leaf-cutting ants in Brazil. These ants (Atta spp. and Acromyrmex spp.) are considered the main Brazilian forest pests, compromising production and making the maintenance of these crops economically unfeasible. Several areas of springs, such as the Cantareira system, one of the main sources of water supply for the population of the metropolitan region of São Paulo, have eucalyptus plantations with unrestricted use of Sulfluramid. Sulfluramid degradation in soil generates PFOS, with high mobility between environmental compartments and high capacity for bioaccumulation and biomagnification at trophic levels. In this scenario, there is a gap in understanding the dynamics of dissemination and transformation of Sulfluramid and other PFAS in the environment and its relationship with ecotoxicological effects and physiological and biochemical changes in target organisms. Thus, the present collaborative research project between Brazil and the United Kingdom (microcosms) and environmental diagnosis of the presence of PFAS in the Cantareira System region in São Paulo. The results of the study intend to establish the relationship between the intense use of this anticide and the economic, environmental and social economy of these forest plantation areas in the Brazilian scenario. (AU)