Occurrence and contamination profile of legacy and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Belgian wastewater using target, suspect and non-target screening approaches
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With the growing concern regarding the health risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), there is an increasing demand for the identification of emerging PFAS. This study provides a comprehensive investigation of legacy and emerging PFAS in 16 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Belgium using target, suspect, and non-target screening methods. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) and perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) were the dominant compounds in most locations, whereas perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the most predominant PFAS in WWTP Deurne (Antwerp region). Using a suspect screening approach, 14 PFAS were annotated as confidence level (CL) of 4 or higher and 4 PFAS were annotated as CL 2a and 2b, including aqueous film forming foam (AFFF)-derived PFAS. The compound group of n:3 unsaturated fluorotelomer carboxylic acid was found using non-target screening in the wastewater from WWTP Deurne. Population exposure in a catchment area estimated using population-normalized mass loads (PNML) showed the highest value in the catchment area of WWTP Deurne, implying a potentially higher exposure to PFAS in this community.
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PFAS measured in sewage treatment plants from Spain, Bavaria, Belgium, and Baltic Sea region showed lower concentrations in influent and effluent compared to those reported in this study.
“PFAS measured in sewage treatment plants from Spain (Campo et al., 2014), Bavaria, Germany (Becker et al., 2010), Belgium (Jeong et al., 2022), and Baltic Sea region (Undeman et al., 2019; Lenka et al., 2021) showed lower concentrations in in fl uent and ef fl uent compared to those reported in our study.”
From Occurrence of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances in wastewater treatment plants in Northern Italy (2023) · cites this paper as Jeong et al., 2022
The Sample Collection section reports influent samples from 16 Belgian wastewater treatment plants, and the Additional information section says PFAS concentrations were measured. The cited paper does not report effluent measurements, so it supports the Belgian influent part of the citation but not the effluent part. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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References 53 · Cited by 76
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- abg9065 · DOI · Paper page
- 0c00261 · DOI
- Authors
- Jeong, Y., Da Silva, K. M., Iturrospe, E., Fuiji, Y., Boogaerts, T., van Nuijs, A. L. N., Koelmel, J., & Covaci, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jeong, Yunsun
- Venue
- Journal of Hazardous Materials
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-09
- Volume
- 437
- Pages
- 129378
- ISSN
- 0304-3894 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4282822571
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 5.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Hazardous Materials (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission (HORIZON2020, 829047)
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (1161620N)
- Universiteit Antwerpen (DOCPRO 4, BOF DOCPRO4)
- Vlaamse regering
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (21K12262, 16K00565)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Fluorine in Organic Chemistry
- Keywords
- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS contamination, wastewater treatment plants, legacy PFAS, emerging PFAS, suspect screening, non-target screening, perfluorobutanoic acid, PFPeA, perfluorooctanoic acid, aqueous film-forming foam, fluorotelomer carboxylic acids, population exposure, mass loading
- MeSH terms
- Belgium, Carboxylic Acids, Fluorocarbons, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Wastewater
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