Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging organic pollutants widely detected in environmental systems, posing risks to human health and the ecosystem. Despite increasing efforts to monitor PFAS in river systems, knowledge gaps remain regarding sources and emissions via different pathways. This study investigates PFAS contamination across multiple environmental compartments in the Upper Danube Basin, including surface water, groundwater, wastewater, landfill leachate, surface runoff, and atmospheric deposition. The primary objectives are to assess the extent of PFAS contamination, identify key emission sources and transport pathways, and evaluate associated risks in terms of the potential exceedance of current and proposed environmental regulatory thresholds in the European Union.
ResultsThe findings reveal a widespread presence of PFAS, with PFOA, PFOS and short-chain compounds being predominant. The Alz River and Gendorf chemical park emerge as hotspots with far-reaching effects downstream, contributing significantly to diffuse legacy contamination of PFOA and being a significant source of two industrial PFOA substitutes, ADONA and GenX. Wastewater treatment plants, old municipal landfills, and sites with a history of fire-fighting foam application are identified as key pathways or sources of legacy pollution, exhibiting higher concentrations compared to the other matrices. Notably, no significant removal is observed when comparing influent and effluent samples from conventional WWTPs. The study further demonstrates that groundwater is vulnerable to contamination from point sources and to infiltration from rivers, with bank filtration proving largely ineffective in preventing PFAS contamination.
ConclusionsThe study underscores the necessity for source and pathway control measures to mitigate PFAS pollution, the implementation of advanced treatment technologies to safeguard drinking water and surface water quality, and targeted remediation for legacy soil and groundwater contamination. Additionally, strong use regulations should be explored to minimize ongoing emissions. The multi-compartment monitoring proves to be a crucial approach to understand the complexity of PFAS distribution at the catchment scale. Comparative analysis and risk assessment highlight challenging situations for water management, offering an indispensable basis for emission modeling as a next step for quantitative assessment of the relevance of different sources and pathways for surface water pollution.
", "keywords": ["Emerging contaminants", "Emerging Pollutants", "PFAS", "Source identification", "Watershed management", "Environmental sciences", "Emission", "Water Framework Directive", "Environmental law", "Water pollution", "GE1-350", "K3581-3598", "Catchment monitoring", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Sciences%20Europe", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6", "name": "item", "description": "10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2025-06-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.15680931", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-08-24T16:20:41Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2025-06-15", "title": "Investigating the extent of PFAS contamination in the Upper Danube Basin across environmental compartments", "description": "Abstract BackgroundPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are emerging organic pollutants widely detected in environmental systems, posing risks to human health and the ecosystem. Despite increasing efforts to monitor PFAS in river systems, knowledge gaps remain regarding sources and emissions via different pathways. This study investigates PFAS contamination across multiple environmental compartments in the Upper Danube Basin, including surface water, groundwater, wastewater, landfill leachate, surface runoff, and atmospheric deposition. The primary objectives are to assess the extent of PFAS contamination, identify key emission sources and transport pathways, and evaluate associated risks in terms of the potential exceedance of current and proposed environmental regulatory thresholds in the European Union.
ResultsThe findings reveal a widespread presence of PFAS, with PFOA, PFOS and short-chain compounds being predominant. The Alz River and Gendorf chemical park emerge as hotspots with far-reaching effects downstream, contributing significantly to diffuse legacy contamination of PFOA and being a significant source of two industrial PFOA substitutes, ADONA and GenX. Wastewater treatment plants, old municipal landfills, and sites with a history of fire-fighting foam application are identified as key pathways or sources of legacy pollution, exhibiting higher concentrations compared to the other matrices. Notably, no significant removal is observed when comparing influent and effluent samples from conventional WWTPs. The study further demonstrates that groundwater is vulnerable to contamination from point sources and to infiltration from rivers, with bank filtration proving largely ineffective in preventing PFAS contamination.
ConclusionsThe study underscores the necessity for source and pathway control measures to mitigate PFAS pollution, the implementation of advanced treatment technologies to safeguard drinking water and surface water quality, and targeted remediation for legacy soil and groundwater contamination. Additionally, strong use regulations should be explored to minimize ongoing emissions. The multi-compartment monitoring proves to be a crucial approach to understand the complexity of PFAS distribution at the catchment scale. Comparative analysis and risk assessment highlight challenging situations for water management, offering an indispensable basis for emission modeling as a next step for quantitative assessment of the relevance of different sources and pathways for surface water pollution.
", "keywords": ["Emerging contaminants", "Emerging Pollutants", "PFAS", "Source identification", "Watershed management", "Environmental sciences", "Emission", "Water Framework Directive", "Environmental law", "Water pollution", "GE1-350", "K3581-3598", "Catchment monitoring", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12302-025-01141-6.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15680931"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Sciences%20Europe", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.15680931", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.15680931", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.15680931"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2025-06-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ppp3.10222", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-08-24T16:14:11Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-08-24", "title": "The emerging threat of human\u2010use antifungals in sustainable and circular agriculture schemes", "description": "Societal Impact StatementRapidly growing global populations mandate greater crop productivity despite increasingly scarce natural resources, including freshwater. The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices seek to address such issues, but an unintended consequence is the exposure of agricultural soils and associated biota to emerging contaminants including azole pharmaceutical antifungals. We show that environmentally relevant exposure to three commonly prescribed azole antifungals can reduce mycorrhizal 33P transfer from the soil into the host plant. This suggests that exposure to azoles may have a significant impact on mycorrhizal\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated transfer of nutrients in soil\uffe2\uff80\uff90plant systems. Understanding the unintended consequences of sustainable agricultural practices is needed to ensure the security and safety of future food production systems.
Summary
Sustainable farming practices are increasingly necessary to meet the demands of a growing population under constraints imposed by climate change. These practices, in particular the reuse of wastewater and amending soil with wastewater derived biosolids, provide a pathway for man\uffe2\uff80\uff90made chemicals to enter the agricultural environment.
Among the chemicals commonly detected in wastewater and biosolids are pharmaceutical azole antifungals. Fungi, in particular mycorrhiza\uffe2\uff80\uff90forming fungal symbionts of plant roots, are key drivers of nutrient cycling in the soil\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant system. As such, greater understanding of the impacts of azole antifungal exposure in agricultural systems is urgently needed.
We exposed wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. \uffe2\uff80\uff98Skyfall\uffe2\uff80\uff99) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to environmentally relevant concentrations of three azole antifungals (clotrimazole, miconazole nitrate and fluconazole). We traced the mycorrhizal\uffe2\uff80\uff90acquired 33P from the soil into the host plant in contaminated versus non\uffe2\uff80\uff90contaminated soils and found 33P transfer from mycorrhizal fungi to host plants was reduced in soils containing antifungals. This represents a potentially major disruption to soil nutrient flows as a result of soil contamination.
Our work raises the major issue of exposure of soil biota to pharmaceuticals such as azole antifungals, introduced via sustainable agricultural practices, as a potentially globally important disruptive influence on soil nutrient cycles. The impacts of these compounds on non\uffe2\uff80\uff90target organisms, beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in particular, could have major implications on security and sustainability of future food systems.
Rapidly growing global populations mandate greater crop productivity despite increasingly scarce natural resources, including freshwater. The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices seek to address such issues, but an unintended consequence is the exposure of agricultural soils and associated biota to emerging contaminants including azole pharmaceutical antifungals. We show that environmentally relevant exposure to three commonly prescribed azole antifungals can reduce mycorrhizal 33P transfer from the soil into the host plant. This suggests that exposure to azoles may have a significant impact on mycorrhizal\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated transfer of nutrients in soil\uffe2\uff80\uff90plant systems. Understanding the unintended consequences of sustainable agricultural practices is needed to ensure the security and safety of future food production systems.Summary
Sustainable farming practices are increasingly necessary to meet the demands of a growing population under constraints imposed by climate change. These practices, in particular the reuse of wastewater and amending soil with wastewater derived biosolids, provide a pathway for man\uffe2\uff80\uff90made chemicals to enter the agricultural environment.
Among the chemicals commonly detected in wastewater and biosolids are pharmaceutical azole antifungals. Fungi, in particular mycorrhiza\uffe2\uff80\uff90forming fungal symbionts of plant roots, are key drivers of nutrient cycling in the soil\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant system. As such, greater understanding of the impacts of azole antifungal exposure in agricultural systems is urgently needed.
We exposed wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. \uffe2\uff80\uff98Skyfall\uffe2\uff80\uff99) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to environmentally relevant concentrations of three azole antifungals (clotrimazole, miconazole nitrate and fluconazole). We traced the mycorrhizal\uffe2\uff80\uff90acquired 33P from the soil into the host plant in contaminated versus non\uffe2\uff80\uff90contaminated soils and found 33P transfer from mycorrhizal fungi to host plants was reduced in soils containing antifungals. This represents a potentially major disruption to soil nutrient flows as a result of soil contamination.
Our work raises the major issue of exposure of soil biota to pharmaceuticals such as azole antifungals, introduced via sustainable agricultural practices, as a potentially globally important disruptive influence on soil nutrient cycles. The impacts of these compounds on non\uffe2\uff80\uff90target organisms, beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in particular, could have major implications on security and sustainability of future food systems.