Ruyle Bridger J, Pennoyer Emily H, Vojta Simon, Becanova Jitka, Islam Minhazul, Webster Thomas F, Heiger-Bernays Wendy, Lohmann Rainer, Westerhoff Paul, Schaefer Charles E, Sunderland Elsie M
Environmental Science & Engineering, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02134.
Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jan 21;122(3):e2417156122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2417156122. Epub 2025 Jan 6.
Wastewater receives per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from diverse consumer and industrial sources, and discharges are known to be a concern for drinking water quality. The PFAS family includes thousands of potential chemical structures containing organofluorine moieties. Exposures to a few well-studied PFAS, mainly perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAA), have been associated with increased risk of many adverse health outcomes, prompting federal drinking water regulations for six compounds in 2024. Here, we find that the six regulated PFAS (mean = 7 to 8%) and 18 measured PFAA (mean = 11 to 21%) make up only a small fraction of the extractable organofluorine (EOF) in influent and effluent from eight large municipal wastewater treatment facilities. Most of the EOF in influent (75%) and effluent (62%) consists of mono- and polyfluorinated pharmaceuticals. The treatment technology and sizes of the treatment facilities in this study are similar to those serving 70% of the US population. Despite advanced treatment technologies, the maximum EOF removal efficiency among facilities in this work was <25%. Extrapolating our measurements to other large facilities across the United States results in a nationwide EOF discharge estimate of 1.0 to 2.8 million moles F y. Using a national model that simulates connections between wastewater discharges and downstream drinking water intakes, we estimate that the sources of drinking water for up to 23 million Americans could be contaminated above regulatory thresholds by wastewater-derived PFAS alone. These results emphasize the importance of further curbing ongoing PFAS sources and additional evaluations of the fate and toxicity of fluorinated pharmaceuticals.
废水从各种消费和工业来源接收全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS），其排放被认为会影响饮用水质量。PFAS家族包括数千种含有有机氟部分的潜在化学结构。接触少数几种经过充分研究的PFAS，主要是全氟烷基酸（PFAA），与许多不良健康后果的风险增加有关，这促使在2024年对六种化合物制定联邦饮用水法规。在此，我们发现，在八家大型城市污水处理设施的进水和出水中，六种受监管的PFAS（平均含量为7%至8%）和18种测得的PFAA（平均含量为11%至21%）仅占可提取有机氟（EOF）的一小部分。进水中大部分EOF（75%）和出水中大部分EOF（62%）由单氟和多氟药物组成。本研究中处理设施的处理技术和规模与为70%的美国人口服务的设施相似。尽管采用了先进的处理技术，但本研究中各设施的最大EOF去除效率仍低于25%。将我们的测量结果推算到美国其他大型设施，得出全国范围内EOF排放估计为100万至280万摩尔氟/年。使用一个模拟废水排放与下游饮用水取水口之间联系的全国模型，我们估计，仅废水来源的PFAS就可能使多达2300万美国人的饮用水源受到高于监管阈值的污染。这些结果强调了进一步遏制持续的PFAS来源以及对含氟药物的归宿和毒性进行额外评估的重要性。
