The DOI matches its Crossref record; 32 of the 32 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Incidence of Pfas in soil following long-term application of class B biosolids
Abstract
This field study investigated the impact of long-term land application of biosolids on PFAS presence in soils that received annual repetitive land application of Class B biosolids from 1984 to 2019. Soil samples were collected from three depths of 30.5, 91 and 183 cm below land surface. Biosolid and groundwater samples used for irrigation were also collected. Concentrations measured for 18 PFAS compounds were evaluated to assess incidence rates and potential impact on groundwater. No PFAS analytes were detected at the three sampling depths for soil samples collected from undisturbed sites with no history of agriculture, irrigation, or biosolids application (background control sites). Relatively low mean concentrations of PFAS ranging from non-detect to 1.9 μg/kg were measured in soil samples collected from sites that were used for agriculture and that received irrigation with groundwater, but never received biosolids. PFAS concentrations in soils amended with biosolids were similarly low, ranging from non-detect to a mean concentration of 4.1 μg/kg. PFOS was observed at the highest concentrations, followed by PFOA for all locations. PFAS detected in the irrigation water were also present in the soil. These results indicate that biosolids and irrigation water are both important sources of PFAS present in the soils for all of the study sites. Not all PFAS detected in the biosolids were detected in the soil. Very long chain PFAS present in the biosolids were not detected or were detected at very low levels for soil, suggesting potential preferential retention within the biosolids. The precursor NMeFOSAA was present at the second highest concentrations in the biosolids but not detected in soil, indicating possible occurrence of transformation reactions. The total PFAS soil concentrations exhibited significant attenuation with depth, with a mean attenuation of 73% at the 183 cm depth. Monotonically decreasing concentrations with depth were observed for the longer-chain PFAS.
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“Soils near primary sources, such as fluorochemical manufacturing facilities, are at higher risk of PFAS contamination, leading to indirect exposure through secondary pathways [157,158].”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [157]
In the citing paper
“Secondary point sources are more widespread and include practices like applying fertilizers (e.g., wastewater sludge or compost) and irrigating agricultural areas with recycled wastewater [157].”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [157]
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PFAS concentrations in soils: Background levels versus contaminated sites
Brusseau, M. L., Anderson, R. H., & Guo, B. (2020) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140017 · Cited by 817 · cited 7×
“In most instances, industrial sites and military bases are where the highest levels of contamination have beenreported, but evenremote areaswith no obvious source of PFAS have been documented as having low levels of PFAS (Rankin et al., 2016; Brusseau et al., 2020).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Pepper, I. L., Brusseau, M. L., Prevatt, F. J., & Escobar, B. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pepper, Ian L.
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-11
- Volume
- 793
- Pages
- 148449
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3174334026
- Cited by
- 125
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 20
- FWCI
- 6.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- PFAS, biosolids, Class B biosolids, land application, soil contamination, groundwater irrigation, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, long-chain PFAS, groundwater contamination
- MeSH terms
- Biosolids, Fluorocarbons, Soil, Soil Pollutants, Incidence, Groundwater
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