Experimental pKa Determination for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and the Potential Impact of pKa Concentration Dependence on Laboratory-Measured Partitioning Phenomena and Environmental Modeling

An accurately measured equilibrium acid dissociation constant (pK(a)) is essential for understanding and predicting the fate of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) in the environment. The aqueous pK(a) of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been determined potentiometrically using a standard water-methanol mixed solvent approach and was found to be 3.8 +/- 0.1. The acidity of PFOA is thus considerably weaker than its shorter-chain PFCA homologues. This was attributed to differences in molecular and electronic structure, coupled with solvation effects. The pKa of PFOA was suppressed to similar to 2.3 at higher concentrations because of the aggregation of perfluorooctanoate (PFO). Often, PFCA partion coefficients are determined at concentrations above those found in the environment Thus, it was suggested that a pKa correction factor, which accounts for this concentration-dependent shift in acid/base equilibrium, should be applied to PFCA partition efficients before they are implemented in environmental fate models. A pKa of 3.8 +/- 0.1 suggests that a considerable concentration of the PFCA exists as the neutral species in the aqueous environment, for example, in typical Ontario rainwater, it is similar to 17%. Transport, fate, and partitioning models have often ignored the presence this species completely. The environmental dissemination of PFCAs could, in part, be explained by considering the role of the neutral species.