Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent Contributions to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Potomac River: A Basin-Scale Measuring and Modeling Approach.

ABSTRACT: Managing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water resources requires a basin-scale approach. Predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) and stream-vulnerability scores for PFAS were determined for the Potomac River watershed in the eastern United States. Approximately 15% of stream reaches contained municipal and/or industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges that are presumptive PFAS sources, comprising from <1 to >90% of streamflow. Mean annual PEC, based on the summed concentrations of eight PFAS detected in WWTP effluents (ΣPFAS_PEC), for all stream reaches in the watershed was 3.8 ng L^-1, and stream reaches impacted by WWTP had perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) PEC of 0.39 and 0.14 ng L^-1. For locatio

SUBMITTER: Barber LB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12177913 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature