The occurrence, distribution, and risks of PFAS at AFFF-impacted sites in Finland

Highlights • PFOS is the predominant risk driver at AFFF-impacted sites. • Off-site migration of PFAS is major determinant of environmental and health risks. • Even single fire suppression event can lead to long-term PFAS discharges. • Risks of PFAS can be evaluated by conventional assessment approaches. • Formal PFAS thresholds are conflicting and may compromise risk-based decision making.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) comprise a wide group of persistent chemicals, whose ubiquitous occurrence in the environment, particularly due to their extensive use for fire suppression in aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs), has raised global attention. We evaluated the impacts of PFAS at three firefighting training sites and one industrial site in Finland, to highlight key elements to be considered in the retrospective risk assessment of these chemicals. The site assessments covered the occurrence and distribution of 23 PFAS in multiple environmental matrices, i.e., soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater, and biota, and the subsequent risks to human health and the environment owing to the migration of and exposure to the selected compounds. Our study showed that the extensive use of nowadays restricted or substituted PFAS, particularly PFOS, are still often the predominant compounds detected at AFFF-impacted sites and will continue to cause long-term risks to the environment. The most significant environmental or health risks at these sites are likely to concern aquatic ecosystems, fish consumption or groundwater usage due to the off-site migration of PFAS. Here, even a single fire extinguishing event can be a considerable contributor. We also illustrate that conventional procedures based on simple mass-balance, and exposure models, with a focus on PFOS and other site-specifically relevant PFAS may provide sufficient means to assess the risks. Moreover, we address that despite the exceedance of the very stringent regulatory threshold values issued recently for PFAS, the actual site-specific risks to human health and the environment may remain reasonably low.