Around 15,000 synthetic chemicals known as PFAS are flowing into UK drinking water sources, and current monitoring catches only a handful of them. These compounds, used in everything from non-stick pans to firefighting foams, resist natural breakdown and accumulate in the body. For one PFAS, levels in UK estuaries already exceed environmental safety standards by ten-fold. This project tackles a blind spot in water safety. Regulators test for only a few PFAS, leaving thousands of unmonitored compounds—many with unknown health effects—to pass through treatment plants. The researchers will combine machine learning with high-resolution mass spectrometry to identify which PFAS are actually present in UK drinking water and where they concentrate. They will then test advanced sorbents—materials that trap chemicals—for their ability to remove not just known PFAS but the full spectrum of contaminants. If successful, the work could give water companies a practical, evidence-based method to detect and remove a much wider range of hidden chemicals. That would strengthen a piece of critical infrastructure that most people never think about: the system that keeps tap water safe.
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There are around 15,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in a variety of products and manufacturing processes; some are known to have detrimental health effects, but the effects of most are unknown. Often described as 'forever chemicals,' PFAS are strongly resistant to degradation or else their transformation products are, and many show bioaccumulative characteristics. For one substance, perfluoro-octane sulphonate, its mean concentration in UK estuaries exceeded the environmental quality standard by ten-fold. UK drinking water chemical monitoring targets just a small number of compounds. As UK water source quality declines, broadly applicable solutions are required to mitigate the largely unknown risks of any "hidden" toxic chemicals in drinking water. Objectives: 1) A literature review on PFAS in drinking water and sources and sorbent chemistries used for water treatment. 2) Machine-learning (ML) assisted non-targeted analysis (NTA) of drinking water and sources using recently developed LC-HRMS (liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry) methods. Through connections with community engagement, water industry, and UK government regulatory datasets, PFAS 'hotspots' will be identified and analysed using suspect screening and NTA analysis. Samples will also be quantified for > 40 priority PFAS. 3) Evaluation of advanced sorbents for PFAS and broad scope chemical removal from drinking water and sources. NTA will be used to assess the removal capabilities of several advanced sorbents under a varied conditions using highly contaminated water. 4) Predicting chemical contaminant removal by advanced sorbents using ML and observed removal data.
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