US and international per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances surface water quality criteria: A review of the status, challenges, and implications for use in chemical management and risk assessment

Regulation of per‐ and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in surface water is a work‐in‐progress with relatively few criteria promulgated in the United States and internationally. Surface water quality criteria (SWQC) or screening values derived for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), and four US states (Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin), and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (SFB RWQCB; California) were compared. Across these eight jurisdictions, promulgated numeric criteria for the same compound and receptor span over five orders of magnitude as a result of different approaches and data interpretations. Human health criteria for PFOS range from 0.0047 to 600 ng/L depending on route of exposure (e.g., fish consumption or drinking water) and are lower than most ecological criteria for protection of aquatic and wildlife receptors. Data gaps and uncertainty in chronic toxicity and bioaccumulation of PFOS and PFOA, as well as the use of conservative assumptions regarding intake and exposure, have resulted in some criteria falling at or below ambient background concentrations and current analytical detection limits (around 1 ng/L for commercial laboratories). Some jurisdictions (e.g., Australia, Canada) have deemed uncertainty in quantifying water‐fish bioaccumulation too great and set fish tissue action levels in lieu of water criteria. Current dynamics associated with the emerging and evolving science of PFAS toxicity, exposure, and environmental fate (i.e., data gaps and uncertainty), as well as the continuous release of scientific updates, pose a challenge to setting regulatory limits. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:36–58. © 2023 AECOM Technical Services, Inc and The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Key Points Surface water quality criteria (SWQC) for per‐ and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) are currently limited. Across the eight jurisdictions reviewed, numeric SWQC for the same compound and receptor span over five orders of magnitude as a result of different mechanistic and empirical approaches and data interpretations. Some SWQC are below ambient background levels and analytical detection limits. Data gaps and uncertainty in PFAS toxicity, exposure, and environmental fate, as well as rapidly evolving s