Human exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through drinking water: a review of the recent scientific literature
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of water-soluble chemical compounds with an important number of applications, which have been widely used during the last 60 years. Two of them, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are the most known and well investigated. As for many other organic substances that are of environmental concern, the diet is the main route of human exposure to PFAS. However, in certain cases drinking water may also mean a significant contribution to human exposure, and to a lesser extent, dust and air (indoor exposure). In recent years, the environmental persistence of PFAS, their biomagnification in food webs, as well as their potential accumulation and toxicity, have generated a notable interest, which has been evidenced by the considerable number of publications in this regard. Recently, we carried out a wide revision on the levels of PFAS in food and human dietary intake. In the current review, we have summarized the recent information (last 10 years) published in the scientific literature (Scopus and PubMed) on the concentrations of PFAS in drinking water and the human health risks derived from the regular water consumption, when available. A large amount of data belongs to PFOS and PFOA and corresponds to studies mainly conducted in countries of the European Union, USA and China, although no information is available for most countries over the world. According to the toxicological information about PFAS…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Drinking water is an important pathway for human PFAS exposure.
“Drinking water is an important pathway for human PFAS exposure (Andrews and Naidenko, 2020; Domingo and Nadal, 2019), and the US Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant levels for PFAS (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2024b) may necessitate extensive supplementary treatment in some drinking water systems.”
From PFAS in Iowa drinking water sources: Chemical and geospatial patterns (2025) · cites this paper as Domingo and Nadal, 2019
PFAS have been found in various concentrations in all ecosystems.
“PFAS have been found in various concentrations in all ecosystems.”
From Review of emerging contaminants in green stormwater infrastructure: antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, tire wear particles, PFAS, and temperature (2024) · cites this paper as Domingo and Nadal, 2019
Surface water, municipal drinking water, bottled water, oceanic air, soils, and food are contaminated with PFAS.
“Surface water (Podder et al., 2021), municipal drinking water (Domingo and Nadal, 2019), bottled water (Chow et al., 2021), oceanic air (Yamazaki et al., 2021), soils (Mahinroosta and Senevirathna, 2020), and even the food we eat (Ghisi et al., 2019) are contaminated with PFAS.”
From Review of emerging contaminants in green stormwater infrastructure: antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, tire wear particles, PFAS, and temperature (2024) · cites this paper as Domingo and Nadal, 2019
Cites
Gobelius, L., Hedlund, J., Dürig, W., Tröger, R., Lilja, K., Wiberg, K., & Ahrens, L. (2018) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b05718 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Post, G. B., Gleason, J. A., & Cooper, K. R. (2017) · PLOS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2002855 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Occurrence of perfluorinated compounds in raw water from New Jersey public drinking water systems
Post, G. B., Louis, J. B., Lippincott, R. L., & Procopio, N. A. (2013) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es402884x · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors in indoor air sampled in children's bedrooms
Winkens, K., Koponen, J., Schuster, J., Shoeib, M., Vestergren, R., Berger, U., Karvonen, A. M., Pekkanen, J., Kiviranta, H., & Cousins, I. T. (2017) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.12.010 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Guelfo, J. L., Marlow, T., Klein, D. M., Savitz, D. A., Frickel, S., Crimi, M., & Suuberg, E. M. (2018) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp2727 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lenka, S. P., Kah, M., & Padhye, L. P. (2021) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117187 · Cited by 755 · see citing works
PFAS Molecules: A Major Concern for the Human Health and the Environment
Panieri, E., Baralic, K., Djukic-Cosic, D., Buha Djordjevic, A., & Saso, L. (2022) · Toxics · doi:10.3390/toxics10020044 · Cited by 651 · see citing works
Podder, A., Sadmani, A. H. M. A., Reinhart, D., Chang, N.-B., & Goel, R. (2021) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126361 · Cited by 623 · see citing works
Blake, B. E., & Fenton, S. E. (2020) · Toxicology · doi:10.1016/j.tox.2020.152565 · Cited by 499 · see citing works
Abunada, Z., Alazaiza, M. Y. D., & Bashir, M. J. K. (2020) · Water · doi:10.3390/w12123590 · Cited by 397 · see citing works
Brase, R. A., Mullin, E. J., & Spink, D. C. (2021) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms22030995 · Cited by 374 · see citing works
Biodegradation of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): A Review
Zhang, Z., Sarkar, D., Biswas, J. K., & Datta, R. (2022) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126223 · Cited by 353 · see citing works
Phong Vo, H. N., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W., Hong Nguyen, T. M., Li, J., Liang, H., Deng, L., Chen, Z., & Hang Nguyen, T. A. (2020) · Journal of Water Process Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2020.101393 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Berhanu, A., Mutanda, I., Taolin, J., Qaria, M. A., Yang, B., & Zhu, D. (2023) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160010 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Rosato, I., Bonato, T., Fletcher, T., Batzella, E., & Canova, C. (2024) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.117743 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Sima, M. W., & Jaffé, P. R. (2021) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143793 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Meegoda, J. N., Kewalramani, J. A., Li, B., & Marsh, R. W. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17218117 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Wu, C., Klemes, M. J., Trang, B., Dichtel, W. R., & Helbling, D. E. (2020) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.115950 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Bolan, N., Sarkar, B., Vithanage, M., Singh, G., Tsang, D. C. W., Mukhopadhyay, R., Ramadass, K., Vinu, A., Sun, Y., Ramanayaka, S., et al. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106600 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Liu, Y.-L., & Sun, M. (2021) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117781 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
DeLuca, N. M., Minucci, J. M., Mullikin, A., Slover, R., & Cohen Hubal, E. A. (2022) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107149 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Yu, G., Jin, M., Huang, Y., Aimuzi, R., Zheng, T., Nian, M., Tian, Y., Wang, W., Luo, Z., Shen, L., et al. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106621 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
DeLuca, N. M., Angrish, M., Wilkins, A., Thayer, K., & Cohen Hubal, E. A. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.106308 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Li, S., Oliva, P., Zhang, L., Goodrich, J. A., McConnell, R., Conti, D. V., Chatzi, L., & Aung, M. (2025) · Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology · doi:10.1038/s41370-024-00742-2 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Bodus, B., O'Malley, K., Dieter, G., Gunawardana, C., & McDonald, W. (2024) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167195 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Norén, E., Lindh, C., Glynn, A., Rylander, L., Pineda, D., & Nielsen, C. (2021) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106716 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
McGarr, J. T., Mbonimpa, E. G., McAvoy, D. C., & Soltanian, M. R. (2023) · Soil Systems · doi:10.3390/soilsystems7020053 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Zeidabadi, F. A., Esfahani, E. B., & Mohseni, M. (2023) · Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances · doi:10.1016/j.hazadv.2023.100322 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Borthakur, A., Cranmer, B. K., Dooley, G. P., Blotevogel, J., Mahendra, S., & Mohanty, S. K. (2021) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117297 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Li, H., Chen, J., Lu, J., Yang, J., Tan, Z., Li, L., Xiao, F., An, Z., Ma, C., Liu, Y., et al. (2023) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137464 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Goukeh, M. N., & Alamdari, N. (2024) · Journal of Environmental Engineering · doi:10.1061/joeedu.eeeng-7478 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Chang, N. Y., Eichler, C. M. A., Amparo, D. E., Zhou, J., Baumann, K., Cohen Hubal, E. A., Surratt, J. D., Morrison, G. C., & Turpin, B. J. (2025) · Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts · doi:10.1039/d4em00359d · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Yang, J., Wang, T., Li, K., & Wāng, Y. (2025) · Journal of Advanced Research · doi:10.1016/j.jare.2024.04.022 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Liu, M., Saracevic, E., Oudega, T. J., Obeid, A. A. A., Nagy-Kovács, Z., László, B., Kittlaus, S., Zoboli, O., Krampe, J., Derx, J., et al. (2025) · Environmental Sciences Europe · doi:10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Once produced, PFAS are distributed and accumulated in the environment, leading to human exposure through pathways such as drinking water, food, aerosols, and indoor dust [26, 107, 119, 123, 128, 135].”
Zhao, N., Zhang, X., Li, Y., Zhang, H., Yang, E., Ding, L., & Liu, Y. (2025) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126093 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
PFAS in stormwater control measures: Removal, distribution, and long-term fate
Gómez-Ávila, C., Hussain, T., Rao, B., Pitt, R., Guelfo, J., Zhou, H., & Reible, D. (2026) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2025.124795 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
PFAS in Iowa drinking water sources: Chemical and geospatial patterns
Dilparic, D., Graesch, M., Hruby, C., & Charbonnet, J. A. (2025) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179397 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Domingo, J. L., & Nadal, M.
- Affiliations
- Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Catalunya Sud (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Domingo, José L.
- Venue
- Environmental Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-10
- Volume
- 177
- Pages
- 108648
- ISSN
- 0013-9351 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2968829238
- Cited by
- 688
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 123 · 2025: 156 · 2024: 115 · 2023: 109 · 2022: 85 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 31
- FWCI
- 3.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fluoride Effects and Removal
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Keywords
- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, drinking water contamination, human exposure, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, dietary intake, health risk assessment, municipal tap water, PFAS toxicity, biomagnification, environmental persistence
- MeSH terms
- Dietary Exposure, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Drinking Water
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
