DIN 38407-42:2011-03

Polyfluorinated compounds (PFC) are industrially produced, persistent organic compounds, where some or all hydrogen atoms have been replaced by fluorine atoms on the carbon skeleton. Due to their special characteristics and resistance, some of these compounds are used as surfactants in fire-fighting foams, galvanic baths and in the photochemical industry. A large number of chemical products used for impregnating paper, textiles and leather, contain these compounds as building blocks of substances, as production-related contaminations or as their degradation products. PFC can enter the water cycle through manufacture, use and disposal. So far, the compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) have been most frequently examined. These substances are therefore treated as major compounds for the presence of PFC. Longer-chain compounds, such as PFOS and PFOA, accumulate in the blood and liver and have half-lives in the human body of several years. In animal experiments, a number of toxic effects have been observed for these compounds, especially with regard to tumour formation and reproductive toxicity. As a result, apart from a few exceptions, PFOS and compounds derived from it must no longer be used in the European Union or placed on the market.
This standard specifies a method for the determination of selected polyfluoroalcyl substances in drinking water, groundwater, surface water and treated wastewater. The lower application limit is 0,01 µg/l or 0,025 µg/l for treated wastewater. The applicability of the method to other substances not given in Table 1 or other types of water is not excluded, it shall be tested in individual cases, however.
The preliminary work was carried out by Working Group NA 119-01-03-02-19 AK "PFC in Wasser, Klärschlamm und Boden" ("PFC in water, sewage sludge and soil") of NA 119-01-03 AA "Wasseruntersuchung" and has been funded by the Länderfinanzierungsprogramm "Wasser, Boden und Abfall" (federal funding programme "Water, soil and waste").