Ecotoxicology of organofluorous compounds

Margaret B. Murphy, Eva I.H. Loi, Karen Y. Kwok, Paul K.S. Lam

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Organofluorous compounds have been developed for myriad purposes in a variety of fields, including manufacturing, industry, agriculture, and medicine. The widespread use and application of these compounds has led to increasing concern about their potential ecological toxicity, particularly because of the stability of the C-F bond, which can result in chemical persistence in the environment. This chapter reviews the chemical properties and ecotoxicology of four groups of organofluorous compounds: fluorinated refrigerants and propellants, per-and polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs), fluorinated pesticides, and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. These groups vary in their environmental fate and partitioning, but each raises concern in terms of ecological risk on both the regional and global scale, particularly those compounds with long environmental half-lives. Further research on the occurrence and toxicities of many of these compounds is needed for a more comprehensive understanding of their ecological effects.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFluorous Chemistry
Pages339-364
Number of pages26
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameTopics in Current Chemistry
Volume308
ISSN (Print)0340-1022

Keywords

  • Chlorofluorocarbon
  • Fluoroquinolone
  • Organofluorine
  • Perfluorinated compound
  • Pesticide
  • Toxicity

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