Research Publications

There is ongoing debate about the sources, fate, toxicity, and, ultimately, the ecological risk posed by trifluoroacetic acid (TFA; Brunn et al., 2023; Joudan et al., 2021; Madronich et al., 2023; Scheringer et al., 2024). The debate is sparked in part by TFA's persistence; ubiquity in the environment, especially aquatic ecosystems; and increasing concentrations globally. This Point of Reference provides an overview of the current science, including a distillation of which topics have significant uncertainty or ongoing debate, and suggests the next steps to move our collective understanding of the potential ecological impact of TFA forward.