Depth profiles of PFAS in community garden and agricultural soils
By Biraj Saha, Mohamed Ateia, Sujan Fernando, Thomas DeSutter, and Syeed Md Iskander
Environ. Sci.: Adv.
July 11, 2026
DOI: 10.1039/d5va00473j
Despite growing evidence of PFAS contamination in agricultural soils, urban community gardens have received little attention. However, these gardens may receive PFAS through various inputs and amendments, depending on local site conditions, surrounding land use, and environmental exposure pathways. In this study, thirteen out of forty targeted PFAS, representing three PFAS classes, were detected in a community garden soil, with a total PFAS concentration of 3987 ± 146 ng kg−1. Interestingly, total PFAS in the community garden soil was 2.6 times of the investigated agricultural soils (1523 ± 25 ng kg−1). The dominant PFAS classes, PFCAs and PFSAs, were highest in the surface soil (0–5 cm) and decreased with increasing depth in both soils. This distribution pattern varied among PFAS classes and was influenced by soil physicochemical properties, including dissolved organic matter characteristics, humic- and fulvic-like components, and cation exchange capacity. Furthermore, PFAS distribution patterns in soils, when compared with those in compost and landfill organics from our previous studies, exhibited distinct, matrix-specific depth profiles. Distinct distribution patterns of PFAS may offer useful insights to guide risk assessment and develop mitigation strategies in future studies.
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