An initial wave of scientific interest in the environmental fate and effects of TFA started around the mid-1990s, due to novel fluorinated refrigerants (hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)) being introduced to the market after the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were phased out under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer . Many of the fluorinated refrigerants are referred to as F-gases (encompassing gases with R-CF3 moiety, R-CF2-R moiety or inorganic fluorides). When F-gases or other fluorinated organic substances contain a C-CF3 moiety that is resistant to biochemical or photochemical degradation, TFA will commonly show up as a terminal degradation product. In recent years, interest in TFA has been re-established due to rapidly increasing concentrations observed in remote locations, as well as its ubiquity in drinking water sources and human blood .