The application of contaminated paper sludge on arable land in southwest Germany caused the occurrence of a broad range of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) on soil. Recently, the dead-end transformation products (TPs) perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid were detected in groundwater and drinking water. The precursors and other transformation products mostly remained unknown. Therefore, HRMS screening by Kendrick mass analysis and assignment of homologous series in combination with suspect screening were applied to identify original PFASs and their TPs in four different soil samples from sites where contaminated paper sludge was applied. In total, twelve compound classes comprising more than 61 PFASs could be fully or tentatively identified. The data reveal that contamination mainly originates from polyfluorinated dialkylated phosphate esters (from 4:2/6:2 to 12:2/14:2), N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamide ethanol–based phosphate diesters (only C₈/C₈) and transformation products of these precursors. Contamination patterns can be attributed to PFASs used for paper impregnation and can vary slightly from site to site.

Graphical abstract

受污染的纸浆污泥在德国西南部耕地上的使用导致土壤中出现了各种各样的多氟烷基和全氟烷基物质（PFAS）。最近，在地下水和饮用水中检测到了全氟辛酸和全氟辛烷磺酸的最终转化产物（TPs）。前体和其他转化产物大多仍然未知。因此，通过肯德里克质量分析和同源序列分配与可疑筛查相结合的HRMS筛查，可从应用了污染纸污泥的四个不同土壤样品中鉴定出原始的PFAS及其TP。总共可以完全或初步确定包含超过61种PFAS的十二种化合物类别。N-乙基全氟辛烷磺酰胺乙醇基磷酸二酯（仅C ₈ / C ₈）和这些前体的转化产物。污染模式可归因于用于纸张浸渍的PFAS，并且每个站点之间可能略有不同。

图形概要