The DOI matches its Crossref record; 51 of the 51 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Detection of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in U.S. Drinking Water Linked to Industrial Sites, Military Fire Training Areas, and Wastewater Treatment Plants
Open accessAbstract
Drinking water contamination with poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) poses risks to the developmental, immune, metabolic, and endocrine health of consumers. We present a spatial analysis of 2013-2015 national drinking water PFAS concentrations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (US EPA) third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) program. The number of industrial sites that manufacture or use these compounds, the number of military fire training areas, and the number of wastewater treatment plants are all significant predictors of PFAS detection frequencies and concentrations in public water supplies. Among samples with detectable PFAS levels, each additional military site within a watershed's eight-digit hydrologic unit is associated with a 20% increase in PFHxS, a 10% increase in both PFHpA and PFOA, and a 35% increase in PFOS. The number of civilian airports with personnel trained in the use of aqueous film-forming foams is significantly associated with the detection of PFASs above the minimal reporting level. We find drinking water supplies for 6 million U.S. residents exceed US EPA's lifetime health advisory (70 ng/L) for PFOS and PFOA. Lower analytical reporting limits and additional sampling of smaller utilities serving <10000 individuals and private wells would greatly assist in further identifying PFAS contamination sources.
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In the citing paper
“Additionally, the majority of PFAS occurrence studies have focused on urbanized regions with known point sources, 10 highlighting the need for monitoring efforts in rural or lesscharacterized areas.”
From Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Surface Water and Fluvial Sediments of a Rural Gulf Coast Watershed: A Year-long Spatiotemporal Assessment (2026) · cites this paper as [10]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Previous studies have reported industrial influences on the contamination of groundwater with PFAS [10,38,39,51].”
From Investigating the extent of PFAS contamination in the Upper Danube Basin across environmental compartments (2025) · cites this paper as [51]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“This type of observed sulfonate signature, especially high concentrations of PFHxS and PFOS, can be characteristic of historic AFFF use.”
In the citing paper
“Drinking water contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is widespread near more than 300 United States (U.S.) military bases that used aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) for fire training and firefighting activities.”
From Centurial Persistence of Forever Chemicals at Military Fire Training Sites (2023) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“Military sites contaminated by AFFF manufactured by 3M are distinguishable by high PFOS concentrations in groundwater and downgradient drinking water sources (Figure 1a,b).2,21”
From Centurial Persistence of Forever Chemicals at Military Fire Training Sites (2023) · cites this paper as [2]
In the citing paper
“PFAS sources are widespread,5,9,10”
From Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Groundwater Used as a Source of Drinking Water in the Eastern United States (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“PFAS and pharmaceuticals, however, are known to co-occur in sources associated with human-waste disposal (e.g., septic-system/landfill leachate and wastewater treatment plants).10,54−56”
From Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Groundwater Used as a Source of Drinking Water in the Eastern United States (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Similar spatial relations have been observed in other regional studies.10”
From Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Groundwater Used as a Source of Drinking Water in the Eastern United States (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
In the citing paper
“Most PFAS are recalcitrant through conventional water treatment processes and, therefore, wastewater effluents can contain PFAS that has originated from domestic and industrial sources [11, 12].”
From An investigation into per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in nineteen Australian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) (2019) · cites this paper as [12]
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Hu, X. C., Andrews, D. Q., Lindstrom, A. B., Bruton, T. A., Schaider, L. A., Grandjean, P., Lohmann, R., Carignan, C. C., Blum, A., Balan, S. A., Higgins, C. P., & Sunderland, E. M.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Environmental Working Group , ,
- Environmental Protection Agency (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Silent Spring Institute (US)
- University of Rhode Island (US)
- California Department of Toxic Substances Control , 1001 I Street , , , (Formerly at the Green Science Policy Institute, Berkeley, California 94705, United States)
- Colorado School of Mines (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hu, Xindi C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2016-08-09
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 344-350
- ISSN
- 2328-8930 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5062567
- OpenAlex
- W2497102241
- Cited by
- 1,333
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 142 · 2025: 188 · 2024: 171 · 2023: 159 · 2022: 168 · 2021: 157 · 2020: 136 · 2019: 89 · 2018: 71 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 8
- FWCI
- 45.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Journal of Media Literacy Education (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P42 ES004705)
- Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation (NA)
- Superfund Research Center, University of California (NA)
- 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 › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Chemical Analysis and Environmental Impact
- Keywords
- PFAS, perfluorinated compounds, drinking water contamination, PFOS, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFHxS, PFHpA, industrial site, wastewater treatment plants, aqueous film-forming foam, airports, spatial analysis, hydrologic units, public water supply
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