From “forever chemicals” to “PFAS-free” drinking water: Mapping a 20-year global research landscape and governance roadmap

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), often called “forever chemicals”, are highly persistent and widely distributed contaminants that pose a serious threat to drinking water quality. In a study published in Water & Ecology, an international team used bibliometric analysis of 1,281 Web of Science–indexed publications (2003–2023) to document sustained growth in research on PFASs in drinking water. For the first time, the study integrates pollution pathways, monitoring, and treatment into a single framework that directs researchers and regulators to the key bottlenecks—namely, the challenges of monitoring and removing short-chain and ether-based compounds and safely managing concentrated treatment residuals.

The results reveal that research on the fate of PFASs in drinking water has evolved through three distinct phases:

1. Initial Phase (2003–2008): Modest activity with an average of four publications per year, establishing a theoretical foundation.
2. Gradual Development (2009–2016): Steady growth averaging 31 publications annually, although health correlations remained unclear.
3. Rapid Growth (2017–2023): A dramatic surge accounting for 79.12% of all publications, averaging 148.86 papers per year—largely triggered by regulatory actions such as the 2017 US EPA health advisories.

Logistic models project continued growth, with cumulative publications and citation frequencies expected to reach 7,689 and 241,696 by 2030, respectively. The majority of relevant research falls within the domain of Environmental Sciences and Engineering with the United States, China, and Sweden being the leading contributing countries.

The study also provides an overview of PFASs' sources, transport, analytical detection, and mitigation in drinking water. Major pathways for PFASs' entry into water sources include surface runoff, soil leaching, and atmospheric deposition. While traditional analysis relies on liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, new portable high-selectivity sensors are emerging. Current removal strategies such as activated carbon, ion-exchange, membranes, and advanced oxidation processes, involve notable cost-performance trade-offs.

“Research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water must shift from fragmented exploration to coordinated, system-level action—anchoring analytics in laboratory liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and linking them with field-deployable, high-selectivity sensor networks and standardized data to close monitoring and risk-identification gaps for short-chain and ether-based compounds,” says first author Chong Liu.“In parallel, we shouldadvance multistage 'intercept-and-destroy' treatment trains and the safe management of concentrated residuals, using cost–performance benchmarks and tiered standards to accelerate adoption and translate scientific progress into safer drinking water.”

###

Contact the author: Chong Liu, Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand, Email: 17609858895@163.com

The publisher KeAi was established by Elsevier and China Science Publishing & Media Ltd to unfold quality research globally. In 2013, our focus shifted to open access publishing. We now proudly publish more than 200 world-class, open access, English language journals, spanning all scientific disciplines. Many of these are titles we publish in partnership with prestigious societies and academic institutions, such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).