Population-wide exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from drinking water in the United States
Abstract
The extent of ongoing exposure to the general public from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water in the United States and worldwide remains uncertain. Here, we analyze publicly accessible data sets of PFAS occurrence in drinking water in the United States. Testing with detection limits below 1 ng/L revealed that mixtures of PFAS are nearly ubiquitous in surface water, the predominate source of drinking water for the U.S. population. We estimate that 18–80 million people in the U.S. receive tap water with 10 ng/L or greater concentration of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) combined, and over 200 million people likely receive water with a PFOA and PFOS concentration at or above 1 ng/L. Multiple U.S. states including California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont have either set or proposed limits for PFOA and PFOS that are significantly lower than the nonregulatory U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established lifetime drinking water health advisory level of 70 ng/L for the combined concentration of PFOA and PFOS. There is significant variation in PFAS occurrence within and between different U.S. states, highlighting the need for systematic monitoring of PFAS in both source and finished drinking water.
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Drinking water is an important pathway for human PFAS exposure.
“Drinking water is an important pathway for human PFAS exposure (Andrews and Naidenko, 2020; Domingo and Nadal, 2019), and the US Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant levels for PFAS (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2024b) may necessitate extensive supplementary treatment in some drinking water systems.”
From PFAS in Iowa drinking water sources: Chemical and geospatial patterns (2025) · cites this paper as Andrews and Naidenko, 2020
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PFAS in Iowa drinking water sources: Chemical and geospatial patterns
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- Authors
- Andrews, D. Q., & Naidenko, O. V.
- Affiliations
- Environmental Working Group, 1436 U Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20009, United States
- Corresponding author
- Andrews, David Q.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2020-10-14
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 931-936
- ISSN
- 2328-8930 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3093401287
- Cited by
- 270
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 52 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 9.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Yellow Chair Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Water Treatment and Disinfection
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fluoride Effects and Removal
- Keywords
- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, drinking water contamination, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOS, surface water, drinking water regulation, PFAS monitoring, United States
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