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30th September 2024

PFAS in drinking water supplies: A review of source, pathway, and fate for selected compounds

Water Quality and Health
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This CREW call down project is a follow-on from the CREW project “Developing risk assessment approaches for PFAS and watch list parameters under the recast Drinking Water Directive – PFAS, 17ß-estradiol, nonylphenol” (Vorstius et al., 2024) with a particular focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 

PFAS are a large group of synthetic chemicals with many industrial and domestic applications. In Scotland, a drinking water standard of 0.1 µg/l for the sum of 20 PFAS substances was introduced in January 2023.

Many different PFAS may be present in Scotland due to import and use. Next to PFAS coming from local pollution sources such as landfills, wastewater, and industry uses, they can also be transported through the air over long distances and be brought to land from the ocean on sea spray aerosols. They can reach freshwater directly or move through soils to groundwater and surface water. Which PFAS are found (and relative mixtures) can give an indication where they originate from.

 

Identifying potential sources of PFAS pollution and analysing available PFAS concentration data helped to better understand where PFAS may be found in Scotland. Higher risk for PFAS pollution was identified for areas in the Northeast, Central belt, and South of Scotland due to industrial activity and higher population densities, but also for some regions on the West coast. Although measured concentrations of PFAS currently remain well below the drinking water standard, the findings can support a systematic monitoring of higher risk areas to ascertain PFAS pollution in the Scottish environment.