Environmental, Water Resources, and Coastal Engineering Seminar Series

Fitts-Woolard Hall 3301

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Drinking Water: Community Impacts and
Interventions to Reduce Human Exposure

Abstract: Some of the nation’s highest concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) occur in the Cape Fear River basin of North Carolina (NC). This watershed is the largest in NC and serves as a source of drinking water for about 1.5 million people. In addition to commonly studied perfluoroalkyl acids, a range of perfluoroalkyl ether acids (PFEAs), including GenX, are important contaminants. PFEAs are byproducts generated during the manufacture of fluoropolymer building blocks. A fluorochemical manufacturer located in the central region of the watershed released PFEAs into the air and into surface water for almost four decades. PFEA levels in a 2015 sample of Cape Fear River water at the drinking water intake for Wilmington (NC) and surrounding communities exceeded 100,000 ng/L, and PFEAs passed through water treatment plants unabated. For the majority of the PFEAs, which were identified by high-resolution mass spectrometry, no information was available about their toxicity, environmental behavior, and removal by water treatment processes. In this presentation, I will describe the impacts of PFEA contamination on NC communities, responses by the NC Departments of Environmental Quality as well as Health and Human Services, responses by drinking water providers, and results of ongoing research designed to develop the science needed to reduce exposure and answer community questions.

Biography: Detlef Knappe is the S. James Ellen Distinguished Professor of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at NC State University. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he joined the NC State faculty in 1996. He is the Deputy Director of NC State’s Superfund Center “Environmental and Health Effects of PFAS” and is a member of NC State’s Center for Human Health and the Environment. Detlef’s research interests broadly encompass drinking water quality and treatment. He is a member of the North Carolina Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board and serves as Associate Editor for AWWA Water Science.