Developing spatial risk maps of PFAS contamination in farmlands using soil core sampling and GIS
Department of Environmental studies, University of Illinois Springfield, USA.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 20(03), 2305-2325
Publication history:
Received on 20 November 2023; revised on 26 December 2023; accepted on 30 December 2023
Abstract:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals that have become a pressing environmental and public health concern due to their persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and widespread distribution across ecosystems. Among the critical exposure pathways, agricultural soils contaminated through irrigation with wastewater, biosolid application, and atmospheric deposition pose significant risks to food safety and human health. As these compounds are difficult to degrade, their accumulation in farmland soils necessitates robust spatial analysis to assess and manage contamination risks effectively. This study presents a comprehensive methodology for developing spatial risk maps of PFAS contamination in agricultural lands through integrated soil core sampling and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). By systematically collecting soil cores from multiple depths across selected agricultural plots and analyzing them for targeted PFAS compounds, we establish a contamination profile that reflects both surface and subsurface distribution. The resulting concentration data are georeferenced and interpolated using advanced geostatistical techniques, such as kriging, to generate continuous risk surfaces. GIS-based spatial modeling enables the visualization of PFAS hotspots and identification of zones at heightened risk of contaminant migration into crops or groundwater. The approach is refined further by incorporating land use patterns, topography, proximity to known PFAS sources (e.g., industrial sites, airports), and hydrological data to enhance predictive accuracy. This integrative framework not only supports environmental risk assessment and land-use decision-making but also provides a scalable model for national-level PFAS monitoring and remediation prioritization. The findings underscore the value of coupling field-based sampling with spatial analytics to inform evidence-driven agricultural and environmental policies.
Keywords:
PFAS Contamination; Spatial Risk Mapping; Soil Core Sampling; GIS Modeling; Farmland Pollution; Environmental Monitoring
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Copyright © 2022 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0