Cited by 273Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchWastewater Treatment and ReusePharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts

PFAS in soil and groundwater following historical land application of biosolids

Johnson, Gwynn R.·2022·Water Research

Abstract

The land application of digested sewage sludge (biosolids) is widely employed across the globe. Studies show that biosolids contain significant amounts of inorganic and organic materials, as well as emerging pollutants, including per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). With the wide range of pollutants commonly reported in biosolids, the potential risks associated with long-term land application operations are concerning. In this study, PFAS in surface soils, deeper soils into the vadose zone, and immediately-underlying groundwater was measured at an agricultural station with a long record of biosolids applications plus irrigation using treated wastewater. Twelve PFAS homologues were detected in every near surface soil sampled 0-30 cm depth below ground surface with multiple PFAS (especially short-chain) distributed through the soil profile. Average measured concentrations of PFAS in these soils suggest the soil burden PFOS>PFDA>PFOA for all substations sampled, independent of the historical loading rates and patterns of agricultural operations on those substations. Measured concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in the soil profile (0-90 cm) suggest these compounds have migrated to deeper soil depths (up to 9 m below the surface) with quantifiable concentrations in the soil and the immediate underlying groundwater located approximately 17 m below. Estimates of the total mass of PFAS in surface soils were effectively made using PFAS levels reported in sludges from the USEPA NSSS combined with long-term loading rates on record at the substations. With the land application of biosolids in the USA regulated by the USEPA, additional and updated risk assessments and surveys to include emerging pollutants such as PFAS are needed to protect public health and the environment.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.watres.2021.118035

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

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?

  • Soils near primary sources, such as fluorochemical manufacturing facilities, are at higher risk of PFAS contamination, leading to indirect exposure through secondary pathways.

    “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].”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 37 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Johnson, G. R.
Affiliations
Portland State University (US)
Corresponding author
Johnson, Gwynn R.
Venue
Water Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-03
Volume
211
Pages
118035
ISSN
0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4205394054
Cited by
273
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 71 · 2025: 80 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 15
FWCI
17.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Water Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PDXScholar (Portland State University) (submittedVersion)
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
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, biosolids, agricultural use of sludge, soil contamination, groundwater contamination, vadose zone, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorodecanoic acid, short-chain PFAS, treated wastewater irrigation, emerging contaminants, agricultural land
MeSH terms
Biosolids, Fluorocarbons, Soil, Soil Pollutants, Groundwater

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