Numerical modeling of PFAS movement through the vadose zone: Influence of plant water uptake and soil organic carbon distribution
Open accessAbstract
In this study, we investigated the effects of soil organic carbon (SOC) distribution and water uptake by plant roots on PFAS movement in the vadose zone with a deep groundwater table under temperate, humid climate conditions. Two series of numerical simulations were performed with the HYDRUS computer code, representing the leaching of historical PFOS contamination and the infiltration of water contaminated with PFOA, respectively. We considered soil profiles with three distributions of SOC (no SOC, realistic SOC distribution decreasing with depth, and uniform SOC equal to the content measured in topsoil), three root distributions (bare soil, grassland, and forest), and three soil textures (sand, sandy loam, and loam). The SOC distribution had a profound impact on the velocity of PFOS movement. The apparent retardation factor for realistic SOC distribution was twice as large as for the scenario with no SOC and more than three times smaller than for the scenario with uniformly high SOC content. We also showed that the root distribution in soil profoundly impacts the simulations of PFAS migration through soil. Including the root zone significantly slows down the movement of PFAS, primarily due to increased evapotranspiration and reduced downward water flux. Another effect of water uptake by plant roots is an increase of PFAS concentrations in soil water (evapo-concentration). The evapo-concentration and the slowdown of PFAS movement due to root water uptake are more significant in fine-textured soils than in sand.
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?
Short-chain PFASs are more water-soluble, less strongly retained, and thus more mobile and more likely to be taken up and translocated by plants.
“In contrast, short-chain PFASs are more water-soluble, less strongly retained, and thus more mobile and more likely to be taken up and translocated by plants [162-164].”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [162]
Soil organic carbon content slows PFAS movement by increasing sorption, especially for long-chain PFASs, which bind more strongly to soil and are less mobile.
“Soil organic carbon (SOC) content slows PFAS movement by increasing sorption, especially for long-chain PFASs, which bind more strongly to soil and are less mobile.”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [162]
Cites
A Closed‐form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils
van Genuchten, M. T. (1980) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400050002x · Cited by 27,578 · see citing works
A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media
Mualem, Y. (1976) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/wr012i003p00513 · Cited by 8,300 · see citing works
THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND ITS RELATION TO CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Jobbagy, E. G., & Jackson, R. B. (2000) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0423:tvdoso]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 5,473 · see citing works
A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes
Jackson, R. B., Canadell, J., Ehleringer, J. R., Mooney, H. A., Sala, O. E., & Schulze, E. D. (1996) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/bf00333714 · Cited by 3,071 · see citing works
Developing joint probability distributions of soil water retention characteristics
Carsel, R. F., & Parrish, R. S. (1988) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/wr024i005p00755 · Cited by 2,478 · see citing works
Simulation of field water use and crop yield
Feddes, R. A., Kowalik, P. J., & Zaradny, H. (1978) · Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling · Cited by 1,910 · see citing works
Development and Applications of the HYDRUS and STANMOD Software Packages and Related Codes
Šimůnek, J., van Genuchten, M. T., & Šejna, M. (2008) · Vadose Zone Journal · doi:10.2136/vzj2007.0077 · Cited by 1,288 · see citing works
Self-citationNguyen, T. M. H., Bräunig, J., Thompson, K., Thompson, J., Kabiri, S., Navarro, D. A., Kookana, R. S., Grimison, C., Barnes, C. M., Higgins, C. P., et al. (2020) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c05705 · Cited by 523 · see citing works
Xiao, F., Simcik, M. F., Halbach, T. R., & Gulliver, J. S. (2015) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.052 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Longitudinal dispersivity data and implications for scaling behavior
Schulze‐Makuch, D. (2005) · Ground Water · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2005.0051.x · Cited by 342 · see citing works
Li, Y., Oliver, D. P., & Kookana, R. S. (2018) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.167 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
PFAS in soil and groundwater following historical land application of biosolids
Johnson, G. R. (2022) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.118035 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Blaine, A. C., Rich, C. D., Sedlacko, E. M., Hyland, K. C., Stushnoff, C., Dickenson, E. R. V., & Higgins, C. P. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es504150h · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Guo, B., Zeng, J., & Brusseau, M. L. (2020) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/2019wr026667 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
The influence of surfactant and solution composition on PFAS adsorption at fluid-fluid interfaces
Brusseau, M. L., & Van Glubt, S. (2019) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2019.05.095 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Fate and transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the vadose zone
Sharifan, H., Bagheri, M., Wang, D., Burken, J. G., Higgins, C. P., Liang, Y., Liu, J., Schaefer, C. E., & Blotevogel, J. (2021) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145427 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Estimating interfacial areas for multi-fluid soil systems
BRADFORD, S. A., & Leij, F. J. (1997) · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · doi:10.1016/s0169-7722(96)00048-4 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Xu, B., Qiu, W., Du, J., Wan, Z., Zhou, J. L., Chen, H., Liu, R., Magnuson, J. T., & Zheng, C. (2022) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104061 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
A modified HYDRUS model for simulating PFAS transport in the vadose zone
Silva, J. A. K., Šimůnek, J., & McCray, J. E. (2020) · Water · doi:10.3390/w12102758 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationWallis, I., Hutson, J., Davis, G., Kookana, R., Rayner, J., & Prommer, H. (2022) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2022.119096 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Murphy, C. D., Schaffrath, C., & O’Hagan, D. (2003) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/s0045-6535(03)00191-7 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Ideal versus Nonideal Transport of PFAS in Unsaturated Porous Media
Brusseau, M. L., Guo, B., Huang, D., Yan, N., & Lyu, Y. (2021) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117405 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Zeng, J., & Guo, B. (2021) · Advances in Water Resources · doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.104015 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Gumuła-Kawęcka, A., Jaworska‐Szulc, B., Szymkiewicz, A., Gorczewska‐Langner, W., Pruszkowska-Caceres, M., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., & Šimůnek, J. (2021) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127283 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationA screening model for quantifying PFAS leaching in the vadose zone and mass discharge to groundwater
Guo, B., Zeng, J., Brusseau, M. L., & Zhang, Y. (2022) · Advances in Water Resources · doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.104102 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Zeng, J., Brusseau, M. L., & Guo, B. (2021) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127172 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Brusseau, M. L. (2023) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163730 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Uptake of perfluorinated alkyl acids by crops: results from a field study
Felizeter, S., Jürling, H., Kotthoff, M., De Voogt, P., & McLachlan, M. S. (2021) · Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts · doi:10.1039/d1em00166c · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Anderson, R. H. (2021) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c01543 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Simulated leaching of PFAS from land-applied municipal biosolids at agricultural sites
Silva, J. A. K., Guelfo, J. L., Šimůnek, J., & McCray, J. E. (2022) · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2022.104089 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-citationAir-water interfacial areas relevant for transport of per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances
Brusseau, M. L., & Guo, B. (2021) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.117785 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Modeling the release of E. coli D21g with transients in water content
BRADFORD, S. A., Wang, Y., Torkzaban, S., & Šimůnek, J. (2015) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1002/2014wr016566 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationZeng, J., & Guo, B. (2023) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2022gl102655 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Smith, J., Brusseau, M. L., & Guo, B. (2024) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2024.121236 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Batayi, B., Okonkwo, J. O., & Daso, A. P. (2021) · Water SA · doi:10.17159/wsa/2021.v47.i1.9445 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Szymkiewicz, A., Gumuła-Kawęcka, A., Potrykus, D., Jaworska‐Szulc, B., Pruszkowska-Caceres, M., & Gorczewska‐Langner, W. (2018) · Water · doi:10.3390/w10101417 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationNumerical Analysis of Recharge Rates and Contaminant Travel Time in Layered Unsaturated Soils
Szymkiewicz, A., Savard, J., & Jaworska‐Szulc, B. (2019) · Water · doi:10.3390/w11030545 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationInfluence of Tension-Driven Flow on the Transport of AFFF in Unsaturated Media
Vahedian, F., Silva, J. A. K., Šimůnek, J., & McCray, J. E. (2024) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.3c00611 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Marzi, D., Valente, F., Luche, S., Caissutti, C., Sabia, A., Capitani, I., Capobianco, G., Serranti, S., Masi, A., Panozzo, A., et al. (2025) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178323 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Zeng, J., Brusseau, M. L., & Guo, B. (2024) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/2024wr037707 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS
Hasan, M., Habib, A., Alam, M., Islam, S., & Halim, E. (2025) · Pollutants · doi:10.3390/pollutants5040043 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“In contrast, short-chain PFASs are more water-soluble, less strongly retained, and thus more mobile and more likely to be taken up and translocated by plants [162–164].”
PFAS contamination and its rising toll on food security: A hidden global threat
Ohoro, C. R., & Ngole-Jeme, V. M. (2025) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111611 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Xie, H., Shi, Y., Wang, J., & Li, M. (2025) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2025.123429 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Shi, Y., Xuan, Y., Wang, Q., Wu, J., & Yan, H. (2025) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138740 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Prieto-Espinoza, M., Höhener, P., & Imfeld, G. (2025) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.5c00552 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Field-scale modeling of PFAS transport and transformation at a biosolids land disposal site
Garza‐Rubalcava, U., Lee, L. S., Pennell, K. D., & Abriola, L. M. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.141814 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Antunes, M. C., de Campos, T. M. P., & Júnior, J. T. A. (2025) · Revista Brasileira de Ciências Ambientais · doi:10.5327/z2176-94782704 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Kumar, R., & Lamba, J. (2025) · Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health · doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2025.100686 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Torres, F., Šimůnek, J., Silva, J., Gharehveran, M. M., & Anderson, H. (2026) · Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation · doi:10.1111/gwmr.70048 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationDaigh, A. L. M. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.1002/jeq2.70177 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Zhou, X., Dong, J., Sun, B., Yang, Z., Sun, X., & Shen, Y. (2026) · Water · doi:10.3390/w18060753 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Liu, T., Zhang, Y., Chen, F., Han, M., Zhao, M., & Chen, X. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances · doi:10.1016/j.hazadv.2026.101207 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
A Review of Extraction Techniques for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Graminaceous Plants
Keele, L. M., Davis, M. P., Lin, C.-H., & Pulster, E. L. (2026) · Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1080/10408347.2026.2685789 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Kabiri, S., Bowles, K. C., & Navarro, D. A. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.141948 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Chen, W., Dhanasinghe, C., Kao, C., Surampalli, R. Y., & Zhang, T. C. (2025) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781394343935.ch8
Geosynthetics behavior for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance containment
Wang, Q., Yan, H., Xu, R., & Bouazza, A. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-24852-8.00003-4
Coffin, E. S., Vitale, D. S., Henry, M. A., Cassidy, D. P., & Reeves, D. M. (2025) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181249
Concise analytical study for two-dimensional pollutant migration in infinite and finite domainsPreprint
Jiang, W., Lin, R., Jin, M., & Feng, C. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6929357
On per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) redistribution in soil driven by evaporation
Sedghi, M. M., & Zhan, H. (2026) · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2026.105031
Kurniawan, S. B., Subramanian, S. V., Hasan, H. A., Ambarsari, H., Andriani, D., Gafur, N. A., Meidaliyantisyah, Amandita, F. Y., Suryati, T., Andriyani, R., et al. (2026) · Environments · doi:10.3390/environments13070373
Pereira, P. A. D. S., Inácio, M., Kovacs, E. D., Kovacs, M. H., Barceló, ., & Zhao, W. (2026) · Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health · doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2026.100749
Mechanical Load-Induced PFAS Transport in the Vadose Zone
Jin, Z. ‐. (2026) · Hydrology · doi:10.3390/hydrology13070194
Ratnasari, A. (2026) · Current Pollution Reports · doi:10.1007/s40726-026-00428-3
Jiang, W., Tian, C., Li, J., & Cao, L. (2026) · International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering · doi:10.1007/s40891-026-00758-8
- Authors
- Biesek, B. J., Szymkiewicz, A., Šimůnek, J., Gumuła-Kawęcka, A., & Jaworska-Szulc, B.
- Affiliations
- Gdańsk University of Technology (PL)
- Corresponding author
- Biesek, Barbara Jennifer
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-07
- Volume
- 935
- Pages
- 173252
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4397032545
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 3.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Soil and Unsaturated Flow
- Keywords
- PFAS, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, vadose zone, soil organic carbon distribution, root water uptake, evapotranspiration, contaminant leaching, infiltration, soil texture
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
