IN BRIEF: TRANSPORT OF NATURALLY OCCURRING TRIFLUOROACETIC ACID (TFA) BY SEA SALT AEROSOL

The concentrations of trifluoroacetic acid and its salts (TFA) observed in air and rain at a time (1990s) when the introduction of TFA into the atmosphere, either directly or through decomposition of fluorocarbons was insignificant, were about two orders of magnitude larger than expected from fluorocarbon decomposition. Additional sources, substantially larger than the known anthropogenic sources, are needed to explain the historically observed environmental concentrations of trifluoroacetate in rain and surface waters. The world’s oceans constitute a significant TFA reservoir (estimated at over 200 Tg) and the generation of sea salt aerosol by mechanical action of wind on the sea surface is well known. It is postulated that this provides a mechanism for transportation of significant quantities of TFA over considerable distances, further even than sea salt aerosol. This represents a variable background concentration of TFA in the environment that supplements any generated by decomposition of fluorocarbons.

The EFCTC paper ‘Transport of naturally occurring trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) by sea salt aerosol’ can be downloaded here. A wide range of information about TFA is available here.

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