Elevated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in tap water and serum in a community near an abandoned paper mill
By Rachel A. Bauer, Ankita Bhattacharya, Ying Guo, Sharon Zhang, Heather M. Stapleton, John L. Adgate, Sarah Choyke, Christopher P. Higgins, and Courtney C. Carignan
Environ Adv.
May 5, 2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2025.100623
In 2018, elevated concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) (1600 ng/L) were discovered in municipal wells, and the groundwater contamination was linked to an abandoned paper mill landfill in southwestern Michigan. From 2020-2021, we conducted a detailed exposure assessment in this community to provide insights about the mixture of PFASs from a paper mill source in drinking water and their persistence in human serum following long-term exposure. Water and serum were analyzed for >30 PFASs using LC-MS/MS. Approximately half of the study participants had private wells with lower PFAS concentrations (<220 ng/L) compared to municipal water (1600 ng/L), therefore, they were assigned as low (private well) and high (municipal well) exposure groups. The three predominant PFASs detected in the municipal well, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (670 ng/L), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (740 ng/L), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) (19 ng/L), were also the most abundant in serum. Participants with high drinking water exposure had serum PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS concentrations that were 15-fold, 5-fold, and 2-fold higher, respectively, compared to those in the low group. For each additional year participants reported drinking the municipal water, we observed a 6 %, 4 %, and 5 % increase in serum PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS, respectively. Overall, these results highlight the role of drinking water as a predominant source of PFAS exposure and the risk that abandoned landfills can pose to drinking water in nearby communities. This study also establishes a baseline for long-term toxicological impacts and evaluation of intervention effectiveness.
Location:
Topics: