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. 2019 Feb 25:653:359-369.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.245. Epub 2018 Oct 18.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in source and treated drinking waters of the United States

J Scott Boone  1 , Craig Vigo  2 , Tripp Boone  3 , Christian Byrne  4 , Joseph Ferrario  4 , Robert Benson  5 , Joyce Donohue  6 , Jane Ellen Simmons  7 , Dana W Kolpin  8 , Edward T Furlong  9 , Susan T Glassmeyer  10
Affiliations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in source and treated drinking waters of the United States

J Scott Boone et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are of interest to regulators, water treatment utilities, the general public and scientists. This study measured 17 PFAS in source and treated water from 25 drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) as part of a broader study of CECs in drinking water across the United States. PFAS were quantitatively detected in all 50 samples, with summed concentrations of the 17 PFAS ranging from <1 ng/L to 1102 ng/L. The median total PFAS concentration was 21.4 ng/L in the source water and 19.5 ng/L in the treated drinking water. Comparing the total PFAS concentration in source and treated water at each location, only five locations demonstrated statistically significant differences (i.e. P < 0.05) between the source and treated water. When the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) concentrations in the treated drinking water are compared to the existing US Environmental Protection Agency's PFOA and PFOS drinking water heath advisory of 70 ng/L for each chemical or their sum one DWTP exceeded the threshold. Six of the 25 DWTPs were along two large rivers. The DWTPs within each of the river systems had specific PFAS profiles, with the three DWTPs from one river being dominated by PFOA, while three DWTPs on the second river were dominated by perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA).

Keywords: Drinking water; PFAS; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Source water.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Boxplots of the 12 quantitatively detected PFAS. Shoulders of the boxplots are 25th and 75th percentile, the belt is the median, whiskers are minimuma and maximum measured concentrations. aDue to the nature of the log scale concentration axis, concentrations equal to 0 ng/L cannot be plotted; alternatively, the LCMRL was substituted for non-detects as the minimum concentration. Compounds using this substitution are denoted with an asterisk. Non-detects were considered as equal to 0 ng/L to calculate quartiles and median; only pairs with at least one quantitative concentration measurement were considered in these calculations. bNumber of source and treated drinking water pairs where at least one of the pair has a quantitative concentration measurement. P values in bold are statistically significant (<0.05).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
PFAS analyte patterns along two rivers. Locations for Large Rivers A and B are ordered by river flow progressing left to right. Other Profile Examples are not related to each other.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Frequency of detection and summed concentration of PFAS at participating DWTPs. Numbers in bold are statistically significant.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Summed PFOS and PFOA concentrations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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