Publications

Scientists and collaborators at PFAS-REACH study these toxic chemicals to learn more about PFAS in our environment. Check out our publications to read what we’ve discovered to effectively measure PFAS and reduce people’s exposures.

What’s this study about?

Drinking water

Blood

Map

Consumer products

Diet

Key takeaways

Socioeconomic disparities in exposures to PFAS and other unregulated industrial drinking water contaminants in US public water systems (Link to article)

• In 2013-2015, 97 million Americans were exposed to PFAS and other industrial chemicals in drinking water, although this is likely an underestimate.
• Water systems serving higher proportions of Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black residents were more likely to contain PFAS and other industrial chemicals.

REACHing for PFAS solutions: how two communities responded to drinking water contamination (Link to article)

• Residents and community leaders in Hyannis, Massachusetts and at Pease Tradeport, New Hampshire overcame challenges to address PFAS pollution in their communities.
• By comparing the responses to PFAS water contamination in these two communities, this paper explored the factors that contribute to community-level responses more broadly.

US drinking water quality: exposure risk profiles for seven legacy and emerging contaminants (Link to article)

• Arsenic, disinfection by-products, fracking-related substances, lead, nitrate, PFAS, and uranium are legacy and emerging drinking water contaminants.
• Some drinking water contaminants share cross-cutting themes, like aging infrastructure as a common source or disparities in access to safe and reliable drinking water.

Sociodemographic factors are associated with the abundance of PFAS sources and detection in U.S. community water systems (Link to article)

• In a sample of over 7000 water systems across 18 U.S. states, PFAS detection is positively associated with the number of PFAS sources and the proportions of Hispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic Black residents.

Self-collection blood test for PFASs: comparing volumetric microsamplers with a traditional serum approach (Link to article)

• Results from volumetric microsamplers – also known as the PFAS finger-prick blood test – correlated with standard PFAS blood measuring tools.
• PFAS finger-prick blood tests can be used for PFAS biomonitoring.

Presumptive contamination: a new approach to PFAS contamination based on likely sources (Link to article)

• Even without high-quality data, PFAS contamination can be presumed by integrating available geocoded, nationwide datasets.
• This premise led to the Connecting Communities map, which identifies over 57,000 sites of suspected PFAS contamination.

How well do product labels indicate the presence of PFAS in consumer items used by children and adolescents? (Link to article)

• Total fluorine (an approximate measure of PFAS as a class) was detected in 58% of 93 sampled children’s products, ranging from 10 to 3,660 parts per million.
• Products with water or stain-resistant labels had more frequent detections and higher levels of PFAS than products without those labels.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in facemasks: Potential source of human exposure to PFAS with implications for disposal to landfills (Link to article)

• Wearing a surgical, N95, or cloth mask for 10 h per day was not associated with a health risk.
• PFAS from facemasks accounts for a relatively small fraction of PFAS in landfills and discharge in wastewater.

Dietary habits related to food packaging and population exposure to PFASs (Link to article)

• Eating at home was associated with lower levels for five PFAS, and this effect was strong in women.
• Eating meals from fast food/pizza restaurants and other restaurants, and eating popcorn from microwave popcorn bags, were generally associated with higher PFAS blood levels.