Investigating recycled water use as a diffuse source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to groundwater in Melbourne, Australia

Drew Szabo; Timothy L Coggan; Timothy C Robson; Matthew Currell; Bradley O Clarke

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.048

Investigating recycled water use as a diffuse source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to groundwater in Melbourne, Australia

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Dec 10:644:1409-1417. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.048. Epub 2018 Jul 23.

Authors

Drew Szabo¹, Timothy L Coggan¹, Timothy C Robson², Matthew Currell¹, Bradley O Clarke³

Affiliations

¹ School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia.
² Australian Contaminated Land Consultants Association, PO Box 362, Malvern, Victoria 3144, Australia.
³ School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia. Electronic address: bradley.clarke@rmit.edu.au.

PMID: 30743853
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.048

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to groundwater at a location where recycled water from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is used to irrigate crops. Groundwater from Werribee South, located west of Melbourne, Australia, was sampled over two campaigns in 2017 and 2018, extracted using solid phase extraction (SPE) and analysed with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS-QQQ). PFASs were detected in 100% of the groundwater samples. The sum total of twenty PFAS compounds (∑₂₀PFASs) for all sites in the study ranged from <0.03 to 74 ng/L (n = 28) and the highest levels of which were observed in the centre of the irrigation district. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) was the most detected compound overall (96%) with a mean concentration of 11 ng/L (<0.03-34 ng/L), followed by perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS; 86%, 4.4 ng/L), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; 82%, 2.2 ng/L) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA; 77%, 6.1 ng/L). Concentrations of PFASs found in this study are greater than background levels of PFASs detected in groundwater and are in the range of concentrations typically detected in wastewater effluent. This study presents evidence that the use of recycled water can be a source of PFAS contamination to groundwater.

Keywords: Groundwater; Irrigation; PFOA; PFOS; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); Recycled water; Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).