Occurrence of Perfluoroalkyl Carboxylates and Sulfonates in Drinking Water Utilities and Related Waters from the United States

Abstract

The prevalence and persistence of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) in environmental and biological systems has been well documented, and a rising number of reports suggest that certain PFCs can result in adverse health effects in mammals. As traditional water sources become increasingly impacted by waste discharge and the demand for planned potable reuse grows, there is recent interest in determining PFC occurrence in drinking water supplies. Here we report monitoring results from drinking water treatment facility samples collected across the United States, and from associated surface, ground, and wastewater sources. Using automated solid phase extraction (SPE) and isotope-dilution liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS), samples were screened for perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUdA), and perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA). Method reporting limits (MRLs) were established at 1.0 ng/L for all monitored PFCs except PFOA, for which the MRL was set at 5.0 ng/L given elevated procedural and instrumental background levels. PFOS was the only investigated PFC detected in minimally impacted surface waters, with individual site averages of 2.0 ng/L and lower. Conversely, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and other highly impacted waters had almost 100% detection frequency for all PFCs except PFUdA and PFDoA, which were not detected above MRL in any samples. Of the investigated PFCs, PFOA averaged the highest overall concentration at any site at 115 ng/L. Substantial impacts from treated wastewater generally caused increased summed PFC concentrations at downstream drinking water facilities, although levels and distribution suggest geographical variability. No discernible differences between influent and effluent PFC levels were observed for drinking water facilities. Removal of PFCs, however, was observed at an indirect potable reuse facility using microfiltration and reverse osmosis for wastewater treatment, in which case all PFC levels in effluents were below the MRL.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in wastewater treatment plants and drinking water treatment plants: Removal efficiency and exposure risk

“…So far, several previous studies have reported the occurrence of PFASs, especially PFOA and PFOS in WWTPs and tap water globally (Ericson et al, 2008;Huset et al, 2008;Jin et al, 2009;Quiñones and Snyder, 2009;Quinete et al, 2009;Arvaniti et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2013;Schwanz et al, 2016). However, very limited information is available for the various PFASs in DWTPs (Shivakoti et al, 2010;Takagi et al, 2011;Thompson et al, 2011;Eschauzier et al, 2012;Flores et al, 2013).…”

“…In DWTPs, previous studies showed that coagulation, sand filtration, ozonation, chlorination, and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation are unlikely to be effective for PFASs removal (Quiñones and Snyder, 2009;Eschauzier et al, 2010;Thompson et al, 2011). But granular activated carbon (GAC) and reverse osmosis (RO) can remove PFASs completely when GAC is new (Takagi et al, 2011;Flores et al, 2013).…”

Występowanie perfluorowanych związków organicznych w środowisku i fizykochemiczne metody usuwania ich z roztworów wodnych

“…Ponadto wykazano, że pewne ilości PFCs mogą być wypłukiwane z gleby do wód gruntowych i powierzchniowych [42]. W dotychczasowych badaniach wykryto ok. 40 różnych związków perfluorowanych w wodzie pitnej, a ich typowe stężenia mieszczą się w zakresie od pg/dm 3 do ng/dm 3 [2,72,28,54,65]. Odnotowane zawartości na poziomie µg/dm 3 , a nawet mg/dm 3 wynikały natomiast z działań gaśniczych i z sąsiedztwa zakładów produkujących te związki [18,55].…”

Perfluorooctane sulfonate removal by nanofiltration membrane—the effect and interaction of magnesium ion / humic acid

“…Nevertheless, its use in some selected consumer application (e.g., semiconductor industry) has been exempted due to the lack of immediate replacement, and industrial effluents from such activities will continue to be the main source of the PFOS entering into the environment [8] Available models predict a continuous PFOS concentration rise in remote areas in the next two decades despite a decline of its concentration in surface ocean water in response to the chemical's phase out [8]. The constant presence of PFOS in surface water presents a potential threat to the security of drinking water, thereby raising extensive interest in controlling its occurrence in the environment [9][10][11][12]. Nanofiltration (NF) is a pressure-driven membrane filtration process that has intermediate characteristics between reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration.…”