Latest Science

Concentrations of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in private well drinking water and serum of individuals exposed to PFAS through biosolids: The Maine Biosolids Study

20 Oct 2025 | Environ. Pollut.

Individuals living near farmland where PFAS-contaminated biosolids were historically applied had elevated PFAS in their private well water and blood, especially PFOA, which showed a strong water-to-serum correlation, demonstrating that biosolids can be a major exposure source and that some people may still have high serum levels even when their current water meets standards.

Evaluating environmental health communication: The readability of factsheets about per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

20 Oct 2025 | Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health.

Most PFAS factsheets published by government agencies are written at a college reading level, use too much complex language, and rarely include visuals or clear summaries, making them hard for the public to understand and showing the need for simpler wording, better design, and use of communication tools to improve readability.

Changes in the levels and predictors of per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in maternal plasma, relative to timelines of EPA PFOA Stewardship

18 Oct 2025 | Environ. Int.

PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFHpS, and Me-PFOSA-AcOH declined over time after EPA’s PFOA Stewardship Program, but other PFAS such as PFNA, PFUnA, PFDeA, PFDoA, and GenX increased especially among non-White mothers, and higher levels were linked to eating fish/shellfish and vegetables, working, and having carpet or pets during pregnancy, showing that policies reduced some PFAS but exposure sources and inequities remain.

PFAS in stormwater control measures: Removal, distribution, and long-term fate

18 Oct 2025 | Water Research

Stormwater systems such as ponds and filters are not designed to remove PFAS, so most PFAS pass through the system, build up in water and sediment over time, and can transform from precursors into more toxic terminal PFAS, making stormwater a growing and often hidden source of PFAS pollution in the environment.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in urban stormwater runoff: Insights from a roadside rain garden

16 Oct 2025 | Water

A New Jersey roadside rain garden removed less than 1% of the 1,400–1,600 ng/L of PFAS (mainly PFBS and PFHxA) found in stormwater, showing that current stormwater systems are ineffective in removing PFAS and need advanced treatment and stronger policies.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food and its contribution to human exposure.

15 Oct 2025 | Curr. Opin. Food Sci.

PFAS in common foods like seafood, eggs, meat and contaminated local produce can raise blood levels above health-based guidance values, with 14% of European teenagers already exceeding these limits, showing that food is a major exposure source and that better monitoring, regulation and dietary strategies are needed.

Assessment of trifluoroacetic acid in tap water from Besançon (France) and bottled water from France, Italy, and Romania

14 Oct 2025 | Discover Water

TFA, an ultra-short chain PFAS, was found in 100% of tap water samples from Besançon (540–3,800 ng/L, average 1,164 ng/L) and in most bottled waters at lower levels, showing that tap water is a major source of exposure and that this persistent, unregulated chemical needs monitoring and inclusion in drinking water policies.

Current knowledge about per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the atmosphere: Fate, analytical methods and research priorities

13 Oct 2025 | Chemosphere

PFAS can escape into the air from factories, firefighting foams, landfills, and wastewater plants, move long distances in gases and tiny particles, cycle back through rain and sea spray, accumulate indoors, and expose people by breathing or skin contact even far from the source.

Comparison of four PFAS mixtures assessment approaches based on extensive tap water and groundwater data

13 Oct 2025 | Environ. Pollut.

Analyzing more than 1,700 U.S. water samples, the study shows that PFAS risk conclusions depend heavily on the method used, simple “sum of PFAS” limits often miss potential health concerns, while toxicity-weighted approaches like EPA-style risk assessment or relative-potency methods flag far more exceedances, frequently driven by PFOA and PFOS.

From carboxylates to chlorinated sulfonates: Contrasting fate and treatment prospects of GenX and F53B in WWTPs

13 Oct 2025 | Science of The Total Environment

In wastewater systems, GenX was found to largely persist in the aqueous phase with minimal degradation, while F-53B partitions to sludge and undergoes limited breakdown, and advanced treatments like UV with sulfite or electrochemical oxidation outperform conventional processes, though byproducts and limited field data remain concerns.

A review of the key impacts of deforestation and wildfires on water resources with regard to the production of drinking water.

12 Oct 2025 | Hydrology

Deforestation and especially wildfires can release pollutants into water, but wildfires pose an added threat because firefighting foams and burn residues introduce PFAS that contaminate both surface water and groundwater, making drinking water treatment far more difficult and costly.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure in hexavalent chromium exposed workers and the effects of exposure mixtures on oxidative stress and genomic instability

12 Oct 2025 | Environ Pollut

Workers in chrome-plating and similar industries are exposed to toxic hexavalent chromium alongside very high levels of PFAS such as PFOS and PFDA, and this combined exposure is linked to early signs of oxidative stress and DNA changes that may increase the risk of cancer, mitochondrial damage, and impaired DNA repair over time.

An unwanted hitchhiker: Assessment of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in vehicle cabin air conditioner and engine filters

10 Oct 2025 | Analytical Methods

Car cabin air filters were dominated by diPAPs and long-chain PFCAs (like PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA), showing far higher PFAS levels than engine filters, which mainly contained fluorotelomer sulfonic acids and some PFCAs, indicating that vehicle interiors are a significant source of PFAS exposure.

Advancing the understanding of PFAS-induced reproductive toxicity in key model species

29 Sep 2025 | Environ Sci Process Impacts

Across model species, PFAS commonly impair reproduction, in rodents they damage ovaries and testes, disrupt sex hormones, and weaken the blood-testis barrier, in fish they reveal reduced fecundity and abnormal development under chronic, environmentally relevant, transgenerational tests, and in C. elegans they cause heritable declines in fertility and locomotion.

Short-chain PFAS predominate in large-scale lithium battery industrial parks, Eastern China: Source apportionment and downstream impact implications

25 Sep 2025 | J. Hazard. Mater.

Lithium battery industrial parks in eastern China release significant amounts of short-chain PFAS into rivers, with urban wastewater, traditional industries, and the battery industry each contributing about one-third of the pollution, leading to ecological risks, in downstream ecosystems.

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