EPA and UGA researchers study on the fate of “forever chemicals” (PFAS) and publish in Nature Communications

Nature Communications: "Mineralogical controls on PFAS and anthropogenic anions in subsurface soils and aquifers"

Abstract:

Researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the University of Georgia (UGA) Geology Department have published a paper titled “Mineralogical Controls on PFAS and Anthropogenic Anions in Subsurface Soils and Aquifers” in Nature Communications. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic "forever chemicals" widely used in consumer products for their resistance to heat, grease, and water. Research suggests that high levels of PFAS in the human body may have harmful health effects. Between the 1990s and the 2010s, 304 farms covering approximately 40 km² in South Carolina received 45,000 tons of PFAS-contaminated sludge from a former textile mill, now designated as a Superfund site. More than a decade after the final sludge applications, researchers have detected groundwater PFAS concentrations up to 1,500 times the maximum contaminant levels. Analysis of soil and aquifer samples for PFAS and minerals revealed that short-chain PFAS mobility in the subsurface is governed by electrostatic sorption on gibbsite and amorphous aluminum oxides—minerals found in virtually all soils. In contrast, long-chain PFAS mobility is controlled by interactions with organic matter and the air-water interface. These findings improve the accuracy of models predicting subsurface PFAS mobility and help assess the extent to which soils may act as sites for PFAS contamination.

Authors: 

Marina G. Evich¹, James Ferreira², Oluwaseun Adeyemi³, Paul A. Schroeder³, Jason C.Williams⁴, Brad Acrey⁵, Diana Burdette⁵, Malcolm Grieve⁵, Michael P. Neill⁵, Kevin Simmons⁵, Brian C. Striggow⁵, Samuel B. Cohen¹, MikeCyterski¹, Donna A. Glinski¹, W.MatthewHenderson¹, Du Yung Kim¹, and John W. Washington^1,3

_{¹USEPA, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Athens, GA, USA.} 

_{²USEPA, Region 4, Atlanta, GA, USA.}

_{³Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.} 

_{⁴South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Land and Waste Management, Columbia, SC, USA.} 

_{⁵USEPA, Region 4, Laboratory Services and Applied Sciences Division, Athens, GA, USA.}