“This paper characterizes a number of novel fluorinated pollutants, the long-chain perfluorinated carboxylates, not previously thought to be a significant environmental problem.”

This work, lead by my PDF Dr. Jon Martin, represents the discovery that long-chain perfluorinated acids are wide-spread in the environment and their concentrations are relatively high in remote Arctic animals. It identifies a number of long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids not previously observed in pristine environments. It raises the question of just how these involatile materials make it to these remote regions. Overall, these chemical pollutants are found in polar bears at roughly equivalent concentrations to the more widely investigated and regulated chlorinated pollutants.

The discovery is useful to both industry and government regulators in characterizing the extent of the chemical pollution problem associated with these fluorinated materials.

The Arctic is heavily polluted with chemicals that are derived from common consumer products that are released and are transported atmospherically to remote regions like the far north. Given the appropriate chemical personality, many of these pollutants bioaccumulate up food chains to become heavily concentrated in top predators like polar bears. This paper characterizes a number of novel fluorinated pollutants, the long-chain perfluorinated carboxylates, not previously thought to be a significant environmental problem.

We have had a long-standing interest in fluorinated chemicals as to the role fluorine itself plays in influencing the environmental fate, disposition, and persistence of fluorinated pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and industrial compounds. Our initial research was in developing 19F NMR methodologies to support these investigations and now we are focusing on fully characterizing the mechanisms behind the pollution of the environment with fluorinated chemicals and devising the appropriate chemicals solutions.