Date of Award
Winter 2024
Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
First Advisor
Paula J Mouser
Second Advisor
Adam Wymore
Third Advisor
Anne Lightbody
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of several thousand synthetic organic compounds commonly utilized in the manufacturing of consumer products and in industrial processes since their initial development in the 1940s. Although the widespread presence of PFAS in environmental matrices derives from many different industrial and domestic sources, recent studies characterizing their fate in aqueous systems have primarily focused on point source discharge, such as those from wastewater treatment facilities, airports, and industrial complexes. Focusing on point sources neglects atmospheric deposition, an important diffuse background source of PFAS into surface waters and sediments. Furthermore, atmospheric deposition is likely the setting for larger scale transport and chemical transformation for certain PFAS that are carried via aerosols and particulates. This thesis aims to quantify the occurrence and fate of PFAS in atmospheric deposition and the surface water systems it affects via the collection of atmospheric deposition, surface water, and sediment samples. This is especially relevant as the April 2024 United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for PFAS (NPDWR) sets federal limits for allowable PFAS concentrations in drinking water, and many drinking water sources derive water from surface water systems. Concentrations and similarity of detected PFAS in atmospheric deposition samples were compared spatially across land use areas, seasonally, in wet versus bulk deposition, and against samples from global peer-reviewed studies, with a focus on the six PFAS targeted by the NPDWR. Comparisons between sample matrices were made to attempt to quantify the effect of atmospheric deposition on surface water concentrations of PFAS and air mass trajectory models were utilized to investigate potential spatial PFAS source delineation.
Recommended Citation
Wieck, Katherine Alexina, "Occurrence and Fate of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Atmospheric Deposition, Surface Waters, and Sediments Discharging to the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire" (2024). Master's Theses and Capstones. 1920.
https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/1920