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PreprintCC BY-NCChemRxiv

PFAS Uptake from Regulatory-Compliant Irrigation Water Exceeds Dietary Limits in Radish and Lettuce: Dose-Response and Activated Carbon Mitigation

  • Sahana Chaubal1
  • Arjav Shah2,3,4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Worcester Academy
  2. 2Department of Chemical Engineering
  3. 3Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  4. 4Drosera Biotechnologies, Inc.
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Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are regulated primarily in drinking water and soil, yet neither matrix is what consumers ingest. We tested whether irrigation water meeting regulatory thresholds can still produce unsafe PFAS burdens in edible crops. Radish (Raphanus sativus) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were irrigated across five arms (0, 16, 152 and 301 ng L −1 total PFAS from five long-chain compounds, plus a 152 ng L −1 activated carbon (AC)-filtered arm); plant and soil PFAS were quantified by liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry. Tissue PFAS accumulated dose-dependently, exceeding the European Food Safety Authority tolerable weekly intake by 2–39×. Critically, at 16 ng L −1 , below the Massachusetts drinking-water maximum contaminant level, tissue exceeded dietary limits by 2–4× while soil PFAS remained below international agricultural screening values, revealing a soil–plant regulatory disconnect. The contamination was undetectable by inspection: growth metrics did not differ across treatments and 67 blinded observers classified contamination at chance. Gravity-column AC pre-filtration reduced tissue PFAS by 84–91% without growth penalty. Compliance in the two monitored matrices does not predict crop burden, supporting direct crop-tissue monitoring and accessible pre-harvest filtration.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{chaubal2026pfas,
  title = {{PFAS Uptake from Regulatory-Compliant Irrigation Water Exceeds Dietary Limits in Radish and Lettuce: Dose-Response and Activated Carbon Mitigation}},
  author = {Sahana Chaubal and Arjav Shah},
  howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008159/v1},
  url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008159/v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - PFAS Uptake from Regulatory-Compliant Irrigation Water Exceeds Dietary Limits in Radish and Lettuce: Dose-Response and Activated Carbon Mitigation
AU  - Sahana Chaubal
AU  - Arjav Shah
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/01
PB  - ChemRxiv
DO  - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008159/v1
UR  - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008159/v1
AB  - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are regulated primarily in drinking water and soil, yet neither matrix is what consumers ingest. We tested whether irrigation water meeting regulatory thresholds can still produce unsafe PFAS burdens in edible crops. Radish (Raphanus sativus) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were irrigated across five arms (0, 16, 152 and 301 ng L −1 total PFAS from five long-chain compounds, plus a 152 ng L −1 activated carbon (AC)-filtered arm); plant and soil PFAS were quantified by liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry. Tissue PFAS accumulated dose-dependently, exceeding the European Food Safety Authority tolerable weekly intake by 2–39×. Critically, at 16 ng L −1 , below the Massachusetts drinking-water maximum contaminant level, tissue exceeded dietary limits by 2–4× while soil PFAS remained below international agricultural screening values, revealing a soil–plant regulatory disconnect. The contamination was undetectable by inspection: growth metrics did not differ across treatments and 67 blinded observers classified contamination at chance. Gravity-column AC pre-filtration reduced tissue PFAS by 84–91% without growth penalty. Compliance in the two monitored matrices does not predict crop burden, supporting direct crop-tissue monitoring and accessible pre-harvest filtration.
ER  -