Sociodemographic Determinants of PFAS Contamination in United States Community Water Supplies: An Analysis of Sampling Data from 11 States

Liddie, Jahred; Schaider, Laurel A.; Sunderland, Elsie M.

doi:10.1289/isee.2022.p-0767

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Because our research questions examined the link between local communities and drinking water PFAS concentrations, only data from CWS were retained for our analysis. The final synthesized data set included 44,111 samples from 7873 CWS in 18 states that conducted either statewide monitoring campaigns (Colorado: CO, Illinois: IL, Indiana: IN, Kentucky: KY, Massachusetts: MA, Maine: ME, Michigan: MI, New Hampshire: NH, New Jersey: NJ, Ohio: OH, Vermont: VT, and Wisconsin: WI) or targeted monitoring next to contamination sources (California: CA, Maryland: MD, New York: NY, Pennsylvania: PA, South Carolina: SC, and Utah: UT) . Additional details on data sources, synthesis, and processing are provided in the Supporting Information (Table S1 and Figures S1 and S2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociodemographic Factors Are Associated with the Abundance of PFAS Sources and Detection in U.S. Community Water Systems

Liddie

Schaider

Sunderland

2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drinking water contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a widespread public health concern, and exposure–response relationships are known to vary across sociodemographic groups. However, research on disparities in drinking water PFAS exposures and the siting of PFAS sources in marginalized communities is limited. Here, we use monitoring data from 7873 U.S. community water systems (CWS) in 18 states to show that PFAS detection is positively associated with the number of PFAS sources and proportions of people of color who are served by these water systems. Each additional industrial facility, military fire training area, and airport in a CWS watershed was associated with a 10–108% increase in perfluorooctanoic acid and a 20–34% increase in perfluorooctane sulfonic acid in drinking water. Waste sector sources were also significantly associated with drinking water PFAS concentrations. CWS watersheds with PFAS sources served higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic Black residents compared to those without PFAS sources. CWS serving higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic Black residents had significantly increased odds of detecting several PFAS. This likely reflects disparities in the siting of PFAS contamination sources. Results of this work suggest that addressing environmental justice concerns should be a component of risk mitigation planning for areas affected by drinking water PFAS contamination.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%