Assessment of Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Plasma-Treated Perfluorooctanesulfonate Containing Water Using In Vitro Bioassays.

The contamination of ground and surface waters with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) is of major concern due to their potential adverse effects on human health. The carbon-fluorine bond makes these compounds extremely stable and hardly degradable by natural processes. Therefore, methods for PFAS removal from water are desperately needed. In this context, plasma treatment of water has been proposed as an effective method with reported removal rates exceeding 90%. However, the high reactivity of plasma discharge results in the formation of many reactive species, like radicals, ozone, or even solvated electrons, which lead to a complex reaction cascade and, consequently, to the generation of a wide variety of different chemical products. The toxicological properties of these PFAS breakdown products are largely unknown. The present study focuses on a toxicological assessment of PFAS-containing plasma-treated water samples. Aqueous solutions of long-chain perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) were treated with various plasma-atmospheric regimes. Subsequently, plasma-treated water samples were subjected to in vitro bioassays. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity were assessed with the MTS assay using human liver cells (HepG2) and the Ames MPF