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Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

Ronny Berndtsson

Professor, Dep Director, MECW Dep Scientific Coordinator

Profile photo of Ronny Berndtsson

PFAS in the Drinking Water Source: Analysis of the Contamination Levels, Origin and Emission Rates

Author

  • Dauren Mussabek
  • Anna Söderman
  • Tomomi Imura
  • Kenneth M Persson
  • Kei Nakagawa
  • Lutz Ahrens
  • Ronny Berndtsson

Summary, in English

Groundwater contamination caused by the use of the aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) was investigated in southern Sweden. ΣPFAS concentrations in groundwater ranged between 20 and 20,000 ng L−1; PFAS composition was primarily represented by PFOS and PFHxS. The PFAS chain length was suggested to have an impact on the contaminant distribution and transport in the groundwater. PFAS profiling showed that the use of PFSAs- and PFCAs/FTSAs-based PFAS-AFFF can be a contributor to PFAS contamination of the drinking water source (groundwater). PFAS emission was connected to PFAS-AFFF use during the fire-training and fire-fighting equipment tests at the studied location. PFAS emission per individual fire training was (semi-quantitatively) estimated as [1.4 < 11.5 ± 5.7 < 43.7 kg] (n = 20,000). The annual emission estimates varied as [11 < 401 ± 233 < 1125 kg yr−1] (n = 1005) considering possible [2 < 35 ± 20 < 96] individual fire-training sessions per year.

Department/s

  • Division of Water Resources Engineering
  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
  • LTH Profile Area: Water

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

Water

Volume

15

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

MDPI AG

Topic

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Water Engineering

Keywords

  • groundwater
  • PFAS
  • AFFF

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2073-4441