01/07/2019
Schematic overview of origin and concentrations of difluoro- and trifluoroacetic acid in the investigated area

Schematic overview of origin and concentrations of difluoro- and trifluoroacetic acid in the investigated area

Source: BAM, Division Organic Trace and Food Analysis

A comparison of difluoroacetic acid (DFA) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) concentrations in rainwater and surface water from Berlin, Germany revealed a TFA/DFA ratio in rainwater of 10:1. Contrastingly, groundwater with a historic chlorofuorohydrocarbon (CFC) contamination displayed a TFA/DFA ratio of 1:3. This and the unusually high DFA concentration at this location is discussed versus the observed microbial degradation products of the original CFC pollutant 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane (R113). A microbial transformation of the known degradation product chlorotrifluoroethylene (R1113) to DFA has not been reported so far for environmental media and is suggested on b basis of well-established metabolic pathways.

Evidence for the formation of difluoroacetic acid in chlorofluorocarbon-contaminated ground water
Ute Dorgerloh, Roland Becker, Michael Kaiser
Molecules, 2019, Volume 24, Issue 6, pages 1039 ff
BAM, Division Organic Trace and Food Analysis and Division Testing and Evaluation of Explosives and Pyrotechnics