Legacy and Emerging Perfluoroalkyl Substances Are Important Drinking Water Contaminants in the Cape Fear River Watershed of North Carolina
Abstract
Long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are being replaced by short-chain PFASs and fluorinated alternatives. For ten legacy PFASs and seven recently discovered perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs), we report (1) their occurrence in the Cape Fear River (CFR) watershed, (2) their fate in water treatment processes, and (3) their adsorbability on powdered activated carbon (PAC). In the headwater region of the CFR basin, PFECAs were not detected in raw water of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP), but concentrations of legacy PFASs were high. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime health advisory level (70 ng/L) for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was exceeded on 57 of 127 sampling days. In raw water of a DWTP downstream of a PFAS manufacturer, the mean concentration of perfluoro-2-propoxypropanoic acid (PFPrOPrA), a replacement for PFOA, was 631 ng/L ( n = 37). Six other PFECAs were detected, with three exhibiting chromatographic peak areas up to 15 times that of PFPrOPrA. At this DWTP, PFECA removal by coagulation, ozonation, biofiltration, and disinfection was negligible. The adsorbability of PFASs on PAC increased with increasing chain length. Replacing one CF 2 group with an ether oxygen decreased the affinity of PFASs for PAC, while replacing additional CF 2 groups did not lead to further affinity changes.
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Fluoropolymer manufacturing plants, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, and military bases are major sources of PFAS pollution in the environment.
“Fluoropolymer manufacturing plants, wastewater treatment plants [10,11], landfills, and military bases [89,90] are major sources of PFAS pollution in the environment.”
From Industrial Applications, Environmental Fate, Human Exposure, and Health Effects of PFAS (2025) · cites this paper as [11]
Including the compounds previously detailed in studies of the Cape Fear River accounts for only approximately 50% of the total ion intensity in the initial sample.
“Additionally, including the compounds previously detailed in studies of the Cape Fear River(29,30) accounts for only ∼50% of the total ion intensity in the initial sample, suggesting that even single-time-point nontargeted survey can fail to sufficiently capture the chemical complexity of a location.”
From Identification of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Cape Fear River by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Nontargeted Screening (2019) · cites this paper as [30]
Fluorinated ethers such as those described in the study have been reported in the Cape Fear River previously.
“Fluorinated ethers such as those described here have been reported in the Cape Fear River previously.(29,30)”
From Identification of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Cape Fear River by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Nontargeted Screening (2019) · cites this paper as [30]
Perfluoroether compounds are poorly cleared by water treatment processes, including activated carbon, and the most effective method of removal is through source control.
“With regards to human exposure, it has been demonstrated that perfluoroether compounds are poorly cleared by water treatment processes, including activated carbon, and the most effective method of removal is through source control.(30,73)”
From Identification of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Cape Fear River by High Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Nontargeted Screening (2019) · cites this paper as [30]
A previous study found concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in a North Carolina watershed remained similar between 2006 and 2013.
“Though based on detections, these results support a previous study that found concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in a North Carolina watershed remained similar between 2006 and 2013 (Sun et al. 2016).”
From Evaluation of a national data set for insights into sources, composition, and concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in U.S. drinking water (2018) · cites this paper as Sun et al. 2016
Several studies have reported replacement PFASs in manufacturing wastewater or in river water downstream of manufacturing sites, with concentrations estimated in the microgram per liter range.
“several studies have reported on the presence of replacement PFASs in wastewater from manufacturing sites or in river water collected downstream from them, with concentrations estimated in the μg/L range.7−10”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
In the U.S., GenX concentrations downstream of a production site reached the low microgram per liter range.
“In the U.S., GenX concentrations downstream from a production site reached concentrations in the low μg/L range.8”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
Emerging PFASs reported in those studies include perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids such as GenX, polyfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids of the C2nH2nF2nO2 class, and polyfluorinated alkanesulfonates and sulfates.
“Emerging PFASs detected in these studies included perfluoroalkyl (mono and poly) ether carboxylic acids including GenX (also named PFPrOPrA or HFPO–DA), polyfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (C2nH2nF2nO2 homologues), and polyfluorinated alkanesulfonates and sulfates”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
For GenX, raw water and finished water have been reported to contain comparable concentrations.
“This was recently also shown for GenX, where raw water and finished water contained comparable concentrations.8”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
In the U.S., GenX was detected in river water used as a drinking water treatment plant source and collected downstream of a manufacturing plant on the Cape Fear River, but not upstream.
“In the U.S., GenX was detected in river water used as a source for a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) and collected downstream from a manufacturing plant on the Cape Fear River, while it was not detected in water samples collected upstream.8”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
Strynar et al. and Sun et al. reported other perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids in river water.
“Strynar et al.7 and Sun et al.8 reported on the presence of other perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids in river water”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
In that U.S. study, average GenX concentrations in downstream samples were about 600 ng/L, eight times the summed PFSA/PFCA concentrations.
“In that study, average GenX concentrations in the downstream samples were approximately 600 ng/L, which was 8 times higher compared to the sum PFSA/PFCA concentrations.”
From Presence of Emerging Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in River and Drinking Water near a Fluorochemical Production Plant in the Netherlands (2017) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Sun, M., Arevalo, E., Strynar, M., Lindstrom, A., Richardson, M., Kearns, B., Pickett, A., Smith, C., & Knappe, D. R. U.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Environmental Protection Agency (US)
- Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403, United States
- Town of Pittsboro, Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312, United States
- Fayetteville Public Works Commission, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301, United States
- Corresponding author
- Sun, Mei
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2016-11-16
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 415-419
- ISSN
- 2328-8930 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2555522022
- Semantic Scholar
- 83cb7e59b6dd349224f384540df70c1226028db6
- Cited by
- 688
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 96 · 2024: 94 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 79 · 2021: 89 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 14
- FWCI
- 25.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology Letters (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Water Research Foundation (4344)
- Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (1550222)
- North Carolina Urban Water Consortium
- 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, drinking water contamination, powdered activated carbon adsorption, coagulation, ozonation, biofiltration, disinfection
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 ›
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