Emerging PFAS Contamination in Water Resources: Source Attribution, Monitoring Blind Spots and Pollution Prevention for Sustainable Water Security

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) challenge water security because their persistence, chemical diversity and spatially dispersed releases undermine conventional monitoring and treatment approaches. This critical narrative review examines the connections between source attribution, aquatic transport, analytical coverage and the prevention of continuing contamination. Peer-reviewed investigations and authoritative technical guidance published from 2000 to 23 August 2026 were critically considered, with earlier foundational terminology retained where relevant. The evidence indicates that aqueous film-forming foams, fluorochemical manufacture and use, landfill leachate, wastewater systems and contaminated residuals contribute through distinct yet frequently overlapping pathways. Source fingerprints are potentially informative but are altered by precursor transformation, partitioning and differential transport. Targeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry remains essential for defensible quantification; high-resolution suspect screening, oxidisable-precursor assays and organofluorine measurements expand the analytical perspective without measuring the complete PFAS universe. Full-scale and pilot evidence supports appropriately designed activated carbon, anion exchange and membrane barriers for selected compounds, whereas short-chain and ultra-short-chain substances, treatment residuals and destructive end-point verification remain substantive challenges. Laboratory defluorination should not be equated with validated field-scale mineralisation. A prevention-first framework emerges: characterise uses and releases, intervene at identifiable sources, verify drinking-water protection and account for concentrated residuals before their redistribution. The literature is geographically uneven, methodologically heterogeneous and often weak in longitudinal mass balances, mixture characterisation and life-cycle comparisons. Water-secure responses therefore require linked source inventories, adaptive analytical panels, hydrogeological understanding, source-control measures and auditable residual stewardship rather than dependence on end-of-pipe removal alone.