Quantification, fate, and transport routes of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in diverse environmental compartments

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and are ubiquitous in the environment worldwide. These contaminants, used widely across many industries due to their stability and unique physiochemical properties, are now known to cause negative effects on human and environmental health. There is a need to understand how this expansive class of chemicals is impacting the ecosystems they are found in and how they are behaving in these environments in order to inform remediation efforts and protect exposed organisms. In this dissertation, the transportation, fate, and uptake of PFAS were studied at two historically contaminated locations via sampling of the biota, soils and sediments, and groundwater. One set of studies focused on the uptake, transport, and bioaccumulation of PFAS in biota over several years, while the other focused on quantification of PFAS in different environmental samples and groundwater by developing soil extraction and high resolution passive sampling methods. While we cannot yet model exactly how PFAS will interact with their surroundings due to the large number of factors influencing behavior that are site-specific, including the distribution and use of different AFFF formulations, co-contaminants, geophysical properties of local soils and sediments, groundwater influence, and habits of organisms living in contaminated locations, these studies provide essential information on the behavior and distribution of PFAS at environmentally relevant concentrations and in directly affected ecosystems. This work contributes to the growing body of knowledge about PFAS in our environment and will aid in developing remediation efforts in the coming decades.