Data Supporting Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Nebraska's Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of compounds defined by their carbon-fluorine bonds, which are incredibly strong. The strength of this bond makes these compounds very useful industrially; they are used as waterproof and grease-proof coatings and as fire retardants. The same thing that makes them useful industrially makes them incredibly recalcitrant in the environment; it is difficult to destroy these compounds. The PFAS are also suspected to cause health impacts in people, such as kidney cancer and low birth weights. Wastewater has been commonly identified as a contributor to the amount of PFAS in the environment, although studies have focused on large treatment facilities and not those that serve small communities. The PFAS's widespread use and recalcitrance in the environment have made them omnipresent, making detection at environmentally relevant levels difficult. The objective of this study was to quantify PFAS in wastewater grab samples from communities serving fewer than 10,000 people in the state of Nebraska and to compare these data to that from larger treatment facilities.

Wastewater effluent was found to contain between 10.21 and 580 ng/L of total PFAS, while finished biosolids contained 0.66 to 971 ng/g. On a flow rate and per population basis this is equivalent to the per capita load of PFAS generated by large municipal treatment facilities. Our findings indicate that small treatment facilities do have an impact on the widespread distribution of PFAS in the environment.