The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
PFAS in soil and groundwater following historical land application of biosolids
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.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
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?
In the citing paper
“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 [158]
Citations
Cites
Buck, R. C., Franklin, J., Berger, U., Conder, J. M., Cousins, I. T., de Voogt, P., Jensen, A. A., Kannan, K., Mabury, S. A., & van Leeuwen, S. P. (2011) · Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management · doi:10.1002/ieam.258 · Cited by 4,641
Sorption of Perfluorinated Surfactants on Sediments
Higgins, C. P., & Luthy, R. G. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es061000n · Cited by 1,563
Adsorption behavior and mechanism of perfluorinated compounds on various adsorbents—A review
Du, Z., Deng, S., Bei, Y., Huang, Q., Wang, B., Huang, J., & Yu, G. (2014) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.04.038 · Cited by 1,236
Clarke, B. O., & Smith, S. R. (2010) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2010.06.004 · Cited by 854
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
Zareitalabad, P., Siemens, J., Hamer, M., & Amelung, W. (2013) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.02.024 · Cited by 642
Quantitative Determination of Perfluorochemicals in Sediments and Domestic Sludge
Higgins, C. P., Field, J. A., Criddle, C. S., & Luthy, R. G. (2005) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es048245p · Cited by 608
Mass Loading and Fate of Perfluoroalkyl Surfactants in Wastewater Treatment Plants
Sinclair, E., & Kannan, K. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es051798v · Cited by 547
Fluorochemical Mass Flows in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility
Schultz, M. M., Higgins, C. P., Huset, C. A., Luthy, R. G., Barofsky, D. F., & Field, J. A. (2006) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es061025m · Cited by 432
Sepulvado, J. G., Blaine, A. C., Hundal, L. S., & Higgins, C. P. (2011) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es103903d · Cited by 399
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–272 of 272
Effects of the hydrothermal liquefaction aqueous phase on activated sludge
Blackwell, S. M., Crowe, B., Brady, C., Schmidt, A. J., Walker, J. H., Benemann, J. R., & Lundquist, T. (2025) · Frontiers in Chemical Engineering · doi:10.3389/fceng.2025.1541144 · Cited by 1
In situ XANES study of PFAS impacted soils filled with aqueous and non-aqueous phases
Kumar, A., Alam, M. K., Qian, B., Donn, M. J., Navarro, D. A., Rayner, J. L., Davis, G. B., Cowie, B. C. C., Pejcic, B., & Fisher, S. (2025) · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2025.104820 · Cited by 1
Amanat, A., Baqar, M., Zhao, M., Faryal, F., Aslam, M., Mukhtar, M. S., Yao, Y., & Sun, H. (2026) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2026.127829 · Cited by 1
Elabbadi, D., Elliss, H., Robertson, M., Bagnall, J. P., & Kasprzyk‐Hordern, B. (2026) · Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry · doi:10.1007/s00216-026-06421-5 · Cited by 1
Nagarajan, S. L., Awasthi, L., Singh, A., Ganesan, S., Muruganandam, L., & Sivagami, K. (2026) · Indian Chemical Engineer · doi:10.1080/00194506.2026.2641756 · Cited by 1
D’Ambro, E. L., Murphy, B. N., Piletic, I. R., Bash, J. O., & Pye, H. O. T. (2026) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c18320 · Cited by 1
Zhang, C., Dong, X., Liu, Z., Hu, M., Ou, Y., Cao, X., Xu, H., Zhang, Y., & Wu, M. (2026) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2026.123018 · Cited by 1
Hu, Y., Sherman, J., Davern, M. J., Alsebai, Z., Kim, Y., Zhang, Y., Bi, C., Turpin, B. J., & Surratt, J. D. (2026) · The Analyst · doi:10.1039/d5an01352f · Cited by 1
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
Shu, A., Xu, Y., Liu, Z., Wan, X., Wu, X., Sun, X., Yates, R., Liu, Y., Chen, Y., Gan, J. J., et al. (2026) · Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology · doi:10.1016/j.enceco.2026.05.009 · Cited by 1
Xiong, X., Li, Z. L., Liu, H., Chen, P., Liu, Y., Qin, H., Liu, M., Zhang, Q., Yin, H., & Zhu, S. (2026) · Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1080/10408347.2026.2670428 · Cited by 1
Shy, N., Rosencwaig, S., Cohen, S., Ilani, T., Mordehay, V., Mordechay, E. B., & Chefetz, B. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142472 · Cited by 1
Anion exchange beads for PFAS capture using a polymerization-induced microphase separation approach
Arshad, A., Back, J., Faber, K. A., Arnold, W. A., Bühlmann, P., & Hillmyer, M. A. (2026) · RSC Applied Polymers · doi:10.1039/d6lp00075d · Cited by 2
Sorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances across soil horizons
Ghaznavi, S. M., Alulema-Pullupaxi, P., Pennell, K. D., & Apul, O. G. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters · doi:10.1016/j.hazl.2026.100180 · Cited by 1
Yee, T. L., Lohwacharin, J., & Hu, J. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.130245 · Cited by 2
PFAS uptake by lettuce: Roles of PFAS properties, co-present organic acids, and nanoplastics
Bryant, M., Rossi, L. G., Wen, N., & Ma, X. (2026) · Eco-Environment & Health · doi:10.1016/j.eehl.2026.100261 · Cited by 1
Davoodi, S., & Sharifan, H. (2026) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2026.180501 · Cited by 2
Influence of Activated Carbon on Fate of Sulfamethoxazole and Acetaminophen in SoilPreprint
Wu, Y., Wang, D., Zhang, L., Ding, T., & Li, J. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4148249
Huang, X., Qi, S., Efraim, R. B., Badihi, S., Zivi, E., Beyioku, O. E., Adler, M., Arye, G., & Ronen, A. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4501399
Liu, K., Qiu, J., Tang, Z., Fu, R., Liu, R., Ling, X., Wang, X., Liu, N., & Zeng, J. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4861427
Ganguly, D., Priestley, S. L., Messer, K. D., & Palma, M. A. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5066193
Applied Smouldering Combustion for Supporting a Circular Economy
Rashwan, T. L., Fournie, T., & Switzer, C. (2025) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/9781837676033-00176
Duarte, M. B., Roisenberg, A., Azevedo, J. A. T., Elias, V. O., & Montagner, C. C. (2025) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-6261164/v1
Yang, X., Hinz, F., Wilson, P., Gravesen, C. R., & Judy, J. D. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.1002/jeq2.70074 · Cited by 1
Pazhamalai, V., Amjath Ahamed, W., Govindarajan, M., Romauld, S. I., Meenambiga, S. S., & Abirami, G. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3373-3982-5.ch001
Aparna, P., Rajaselvi, N. D., Nisha, A. R., Sujith, S., & Aziz, Z. (2025) · Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology · doi:10.4103/jvpt.jvpt_5_25
Advances and Research Gaps for PFAS Modeling in Watersheds and Receiving Waters
Zhang, H. X., Babbar‐Sebens, M., Ahmadisharaf, E., Camacho, R. A., & Imen, S. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Engineering · doi:10.1061/joeedu.eeeng-8137 · Cited by 3
Patel, R. J., Gooddy, D. C., Marchant, B. P., Lapworth, D. J., James, A., Cook, M., Darby, K., & Besien, T. (2025) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144804 · Cited by 1
Wang, L. H., Hou, J., Han, B., Wang, J., Chen, L., & WenXin, L. I. U. (2026) · Environmental Research · doi:10.1016/j.envres.2026.123838 · Cited by 1
Yanagisawa, H., Obayashi, K., Furuta, M., & Fujimaki, S. (2026) · Separation Science Plus · doi:10.1002/sscp.70191
Drained, farmed, and forgotten – Relic depressional wetlands endure as conduits for nutrient loss
Williams, M. R., Penn, C. J., & Yen, H. (2026) · Resources Environment and Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.resenv.2026.100326
Ganguly, D., Priestley, S. L., Messer, K. D., & Palma, M. A. (2026) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.109017
Herrera, A. G., Iacovidou, E., & Giakoumis, T. (2026) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181779
Zheng, J., Desrosiers, M., Benjannet, R., Hawabhay, R. L., & Bayen, S. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6621926
Lupolt, S. N., Simones, T. L., Gillooly, S. E., Pennoyer, E. H., Nachman, K. E., & Smith, A. E. (2026) · Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology · doi:10.1038/s41370-026-00895-2
Sivaram, A. K., Lee, E., Brown, L., Yong, B., Surapaneni, A., & Megharaj, M. (2026) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1093/etojnl/vgag134
Tran, L. N., McVeigh, K., Lum, M., Liu, J., & Lin, Y. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6875613
Kumar, I. A., Urucu, O. A., Kharel, M., & Liang, Y. (2026) · ACS ES&T Engineering · doi:10.1021/acsestengg.6c00068
Peter, L. G., Lee, L., Burbage, C., Richardson, A., Hoffman, K., & Holloway, D. (2026) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.6c00339
Sima, M. W., & Jaffé, P. R. (2026) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/bs.agron.2026.05.002
PFAS in the circular economy: An unintended consequence of recycling and wastewater reuse?
Oladeji, O. A., Okimiji, O. P., Ojekunle, O. Z., Kumar, A., Oba, B. T., & Aborisade, M. A. (2026) · Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management · doi:10.1093/inteam/vjag047
Szulc, W., Gawronski, S., Gancarczyk, D., Szulc, W., Rutkowska, B., & Majder–Łopatka, M. (2026) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-026-38041-y
Kebede, M. M., Mekonnen, M. M., Terry, L. G., & Clement, T. (2026) · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2026.105048
Fernandez, E. (2026) · Journal of Rural Studies · doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2026.104324
PFAS in soil systems: rethinking microbial responses, methodological biases and emerging risks
Mehmood, N., Rajput, V. D., Mazhar, S., Hyder, S., Banerjee, S., Gedefaw, M., Mandzhieva, S., Iqbal, R., Ullah, S., Alliluev, I., et al. (2026) · Environmental Pollutants and Bioavailability · doi:10.1080/26395940.2026.2706235
Ong, C., Afzal, A., Gao, Y., & Fu, Q. (2026) · Environmental Geochemistry and Health · doi:10.1007/s10653-026-03376-5
Assessing features of PFAS groundwater occurrence using SHAP-enhanced machine learning
Wang, L., Ma, Y., Rajapakshe, D., Xu, X., Cao, H., & Li, R. (2026) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2026.128849
Soil enzyme dynamics under PFAS contamination in arid and Mediterranean soils
Sanchez-Hernandez, J. C., Pacheco, N. I. N., Cares, X. A., Semerád, J., Cajthaml, T., & Megharaj, M. (2026) · npj Emerging Contaminants · doi:10.1038/s44454-026-00050-4
Ran, X., Qin, H., Zhang, R., Li, Q., Cai, M. H., Yao, D., Li, Y., & Mao, S. (2026) · Applied Catalysis B: Environmental · doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2026.127304
You, Y., Zeng, H.-Y., Lv, G.-C., Mantzavinos, D., Zhu, X.-Y., Lin, L., Deng, S.-H., Shen, F., Yao, J., & Lei, Y.-J. (2026) · Separation and Purification Technology · doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2026.139639
Zhou, M., Zhou, Y., Li, Q., Zhu, W., Ma, S., Wu, X., Chen, S., He, C., Zhao, Z., & Xia, S. (2026) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry A · doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.6c03472
Wang, W., Yu, Z., Fan, Q., Hu, H., Li, C., Wei, Y., & Li, H. (2026) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2026.126640
Cao, J., Xue, Z.-P., Zhang, H., Zhu, H., & Li, M. (2026) · Water Science and Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.wse.2026.08.001
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in soil and plants
Adewuyi, A. (2026) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-43856-1.00007-1
Pulimamidi, S. S., Bandal, R. D., Ponneganti, S., Bodake, S., Naik, D. D., & Borkar, R. M. (2026) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-43856-1.00001-0
Moing, A. L., Calvez, M. L., Fontaine, J., Goeury, K., Verner, M.-A., & Sauvé, S. (2026) · Journal of Food Composition and Analysis · doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2026.109457
A pore-scale perspective of pollutant wettability on the soil infiltration process
Sun, Z., Wang, J., Xu, X., Xu, P., Jiang, H., Shan, Y., Jiao, W., Giesy, J. P., Fu, J., & Zhan, M. (2026) · Environmental Technology & Innovation · doi:10.1016/j.eti.2026.105163
Harrison, J. C., Farias, J. G., Williams, C. F., Kuppravalli, A., Novak, N., Muenich, R. L., Boyer, T. H., Smith, W. J., Liu, Y., Gebrewold, M., et al. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.1002/jeq2.70230
Yu, H., Wang, C., Wang, X., Zhong, Y., Wang, Q., Qian, S., Liu, Y., Liu, W., Zhou, Y., Dong, H., et al. (2026) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.6c00787
Abd-ur-Rehman, H. M., Parker, W. J., & Pham, A. L. (2026) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.6c00294
Xu, Y., Morellos, A., & Mouazen, A. M. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.143546
Wen, Q., Snow, D. D., Aich, N., Lorah, M. M., Smalling, K. L., Hribljan, J., Ayayee, P. A., & Li, X. (2026) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2026.126921
Spatial heterogeneity and drivers of PFASs distribution in an arid-semiarid city waters system
Zhu, X., Sun, W., Sun, Y., Fu, X., Sun, B., Li, Y., Lü, C.-W., Zhang, S., Wang, X., & Liao, C. (2026) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136453
Versatile TOP assay surrogates for evaluating oxidation efficiency in complex environmental samples
Choyke, S., Yoon, H., Alukkal, C. R., Choi, Y. J., King, J., Meyers, C., Thorn, J., Kruelle, H., Grimaldi, A., Priest, B., et al. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters · doi:10.1016/j.hazl.2026.100198
Üstünyıldız, B. (2026) · Environmental Monitoring and Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10661-026-16027-0
The effect of soil pH amendment on PFOS uptake for phytoremediation
Kent, C., Thompson, J. T., Lin, A. M., Timshina, A. S., Bryce, L., Bowden, J. A., & Planavsky, N. J. (2026) · Environmental Science Advances · doi:10.1039/d6va00342g
He, C., Stuetz, R. M., Khan, S. J., Ball, A. S., & O’Carroll, D. M. (2026) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.143937
Chen, X.-Y., Kong, J.-B., Sun, X.-Z., Lv, J., Shi, W.-J., Zhang, X.-L., & Zhang, X. (2026) · Chemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.cej.2026.183499
Hamdan, N., Qian, J., Prasek, S. M., Pepper, I., & Prasse, C. (2026) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6c13101
Advancing sustainable soil management in China through innovative standardization
Zhao, B., Liu, R., Zhang, H., Jin, Y., Song, Y., 张志科, Qing, S., Chen, W., & Liu, X. (2026) · Industrial Crops and Products · doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2026.124647
Chen, J., Yan, C., Peng, C., Liu, Q., Xie, W., Liu, H., Fu, R., & Zhang, W. (2026) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2026.125720
Metadata
- 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
- Licence
- 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
