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USEPA/USGS Research on PFAS and other Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Drinking Water
Citation:
Glassmeyer, S. USEPA/USGS Research on PFAS and other Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Drinking Water. Emerging Contaminants Short Course, Milwaukee,WI, October 22 - 23, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Source and treated drinking water from 25 drinking water treatment plants from the US were analyzed for 254 CECs. The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) showed limited removal during treatment, and were persistent in river systems.
Description:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally stable contaminants of emerging concern, frequently measured in environmental and drinking waters. This study analyzed for 17 PFAS in source- and treated-water samples collected at 25 drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) across the United States collected between 2010 and 2012. PFAS were quantitatively detected in all 50 samples, with a maximum total PFAS concentration of 1,102 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 DWTP, only five locations demonstrated statistically significant differences (i.e. P <0.05) between samples, indicating that removal of PFAS during drinking water treatment was not common. The depth and activation status for the granular activated carbon may have been an influential factor at the plants with a significant difference. The environmental persistence of PFAS was evident at six DWTPs. Three DWTPs shared one large river in common as their drinking-water source, while a second set of three DWTPs shared another large river in common for their drinking-water source. The DWTPs in each river basin were separated by 100s to 1000s of kilometers. The PFAS composition at the DWTPs from one river was dominated by perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA), while the PFAS composition at the DWTPs from the other river was dominated by perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA). Modelling gave further insights to the source of PFAS into the water cycle, pointing to environmental sources other than wastewater.