Pesticides can be a substantial source of trifluoroacetate (TFA) to water resources.

Through the application of C-CF ₃ -containing plant protection products (PPP) in agriculture, a substantial quantity of trifluoroacetate (TFA) can be formed and emitted. We here present estimations of TFA formation potentials from PPP across three important economical regions, namely Europe, the United States of America and China. PPP with TFA formation potential vary in type and use profile across those regions, but can be found throughout, with the estimated maximum TFA emissions ranging from 0 to 83 kg/km ² per year. Therein, some PPP are only used for specific crops in specific regions, while others are used more widely. The importance of PPP as a TFA source is supported by the field data from a region in Germany, which revealed a significant increase in TFA groundwater concentrations with agriculture compared to other land uses. Substance-specific TFA formation rates and field studies are necessary to characterize the formation of TFA from precursors under environmental conditions and to rank and prioritize PPP of concern for potential (regulatory) action.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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