Sulfamate in environmental waters

Although sulfamate (the anion of sulfamic acid) has been in use for decades in various industrial and other applications, there is no previously published information about its occurrence and fate in environmental waters. In this study sulfamate was widely detected in environmental waters in Ontario, Canada, ranging up to 128,000ng/L. It was always detected (>100ng/L) in bulk precipitation samples and streams, it was usually detected in samples of lake water, and often detected in groundwater. Spatial and temporal variations suggest that both widespread atmospheric deposition and localized land-based anthropogenic sources of sulfamate may be important. Lower concentrations or non-detections of sulfamate in waters that had relatively low dissolved oxygen (e.g. some groundwaters) suggest that sulfamate may be degraded in the environment under suboxic or anoxic conditions. Given our findings of a wide distribution of sulfamate in environmental waters, including precipitation, it is not likely to be very useful as a wastewater tracer.