Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42577858›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology letters2026

Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) Exceeds All Other Extractable Organofluorine in Drinking Water from Eastern Massachusetts, United States.

Jahred M Liddie, Euna Kim, Faiz Haque, Anton Roche, Ethan J Sontarp, Elsie M Sunderland

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology letters, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Reply to Li et al.: Fluorinated liquid crystal monomers highlight a need for more data on emerging PFAS.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jahred M LiddieHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Euna KimHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Faiz HaqueHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Anton RocheHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Ethan J SontarpHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Elsie M SunderlandHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.

Funding

Sources, Transport, Exposure & Effects of PFAS (STEEP) Center - RENEWALP42ES027706 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND · PI Rainer Lohmann · 2017 to 2026
$18.9M
Training Program in Environmental EpidemiologyT32ES007069 · NIEHS · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI LADEN, FRANCINE · 1985 to 2024
$13.9M
NIEHS NIH HHS P42 ES027706NIEHS NIH HHS T32 ES007069
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are present in drinking water consumed by ~200 million United States (US) residents, but many are not detected by routine monitoring methods. Here, we aimed to better characterize the organofluorine mass budget in US drinking water samples from 19 sites in eastern Massachusetts. Extractable organofluorine (EOF) was detected at 16/17 sites served by community water systems (CWS) using conventional treatment techniques (coagulation, flocculation, clarification, and filtration). At these sites, a suite of 37 targeted PFAS accounted for 6-68% of the extractable organofluorine (EOF) and suspect screening identified fluorinated agrochemicals in almost all samples. High EOF concentrations in untreated source waters for two CWS that used granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion-exchange (IX) treatment, were reduced below detection in finished drinking water samples. Our EOF measurements were not selective for trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), so we measured concentrations in triplicate samples at one conventional treatment site, and from the IX, and GAC sites. At these sites, TFA concentrations were higher than EOF and were unaffected by treatment type. Results of this pilot study show GAC and IX treatment removed virtually all organofluorine in drinking water other than TFA.

Indexed as

contaminationDrinking waterPFASultrashort-chain PFASwater treatment

Identifiers

PMID42577858
PMCPMC13455386

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.