Linking PFAS Sources to Monitoring Data – Can Hotspots of Environmental Contamination be Linked to Potential Sources?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an important class of synthetic chemicals that have been manufactured since the 1940s and used in a variety of applications since the 1950s. Their unique properties confer on them the ability to repel water, oil, and stains due their surfactant properties. They have also shown to be very persistent and stable in the environment owing to their carbon-fluorine backbone. It is this property that makes PFAS an important class of environmental contaminants that also confers undesirable effects on human health and the environment. PFAS contamination has become a worldwide issue which attracted much attention resulting in a very hot topic in scientific communities. PFAS, both legacy and replacement compounds, are ubiquitous being reported in surface oceans, wastewaters, freshwaters, soils, sediments, biota and air. Many contamination ‘hotspots’ have been reported which are often linked to current or historical manufacturing sites, or use of aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs) linked to use at airports and fire training facilities and landfills. Concentrations of PFAS in surface waters, groundwaters and drinking waters are often reported to be above environmental quality standards. With exposure concentration standards being reviewed and tightened, the frequency of non-compliance are likely to increase.

This Research Topic should be of great help to establish the link between sources and monitoring data to establish recent and legacy use patterns for PFAS. Monitoring data for legacy PFAS is becoming common place either from research projects or as a result of compliance assessment. These data have often reported ‘hotspots’ which are linked to potential local sources. We wish to explore these links further and to explore the fate and behavior of PFAS in detail. The monitoring data signature can be used to assess historical use of PFOS and PFOA, but equally it can be used to investigate the sources and fate of their replacements and explore the occurrence or emerging PFAS compounds. These assessments can also be used to investigate the potential degradation rates and pathways for the replacements PFAS and the plethora of potential byproducts. This Research Topic would welcome data from sampling and measurement campaigns, but also modelling exercises that provide an assessment of source strength and environmental fate.

We hope the collection would bring together research papers and reviews on the research topic.

Manuscripts covering the following aspects are invited:

• Monitoring data to evaluate PFAS profiles in a multitude of environmental matrices.

• Studies to help identify and elucidate source profiles and patterns.

• Provision of survey and monitoring data to quantify the scale and extent of contamination and the potential presence of hotspots.

• Assessment of potential transport and degradation pathways.

• Development and application of methods to remediate PFAS.

All article types are welcome, with an emphasis on Original Research, Reviews and Perspectives.