Burdens of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) In U.S. Public Water Systems Público

Abstract

Objective: Identify relationships between the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public water systems and county-level sociodemographic characteristics across the United States.

Methods: Drinking water and concentrations of six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances were obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3), and county-level characteristics were obtained from the 2010 U.S. Census. The data from these two sources were used to construct classification trees to identify predictors of PFAS detection.

Results: The detection frequency of the six PFAS ranged between 0.05% and 1.00%. With these low detection frequencies, only PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOS data produced classification trees. The main predictors for the PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOS included different measures of household income, facility water type, population size, and residential mobility. Surface water as the facility water type was a common split among all three of the contaminants.

Conclusions: The classification trees were a novel approach to identifying disparities in the detection of PFAS in drinking water; however, the low detection frequencies from the 2012 – 2015 data limited potential subgroups of importance. The same approach should be used in future PFAS drinking water data to better predict which demographic characteristics predict PFAS burden.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data Sources

Perfluorinated Contaminants

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Limitations

PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

REFERENCES

TABLES AND FIGURES

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Environmental Health
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Environmental Health
Palabra Clave	per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances classification trees PFAS drinking water environmental health disparities
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Matthew O. Gribble, Emory University

Última modificación

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	Burdens of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) In U.S. Public Water Systems ()	2021-05-02 17:13:30 -0400	Press to Select an action Download

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions