PFAS in Swedish drinking waters - challenges and solutions

In Sweden, drinking water providers rely to 50% on surface water and to 50% on groundwater as raw water for drinking water production. However, recent findings have revealed the widespread presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Swedish surface- and groundwater, including those used for drinking water production. This raises concerns about maintaining high drinking water quality. Indeed, currently two million Swedes—roughly 20% of the population—consume drinking water with a PFAS concentration that exceeds the new threshold value of 4 ng/L for the sum of four specific PFAS (Σ₄PFAS: PFHxS, PFOS, PFOA, PFNA), which will be introduced by the Swedish Food Agency (SLV) in 2026. This highlights the urgent need for sustainable and innovative treatment solutions for large-scale water supply to protect humans from the consumption of these hazardous pollutants and to reduce the associated health risks.

In this seminar, Philipp Wanner from the Earth Science Department of the University of Gothenburg will present and discuss his research on the presence of PFAS in Swedish raw waters used for drinking water production, as well as efforts to develop novel treatment technologies aimed at reducing PFAS concentrations in Swedish drinking water to meet the new 2026 SLV regulatory standards.

Moreover, there are a few hotspots in Europe, where drinking water PFAS levels have contributed to significantly elevated PFAS exposure levels in the population. In Ronneby, Sweden, drinking water was contaminated by PFAS for decades and was suddenly discovered in 2013. Large research program was then initiated to assess the risk of PFAS exposure in humans. Experiences from these investigations will be presented along with time-trends for PFAS exposure in the general population over the last 40 years by Yiyi Xu from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy.