Source Identification of Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Cedar Lake, Alcona and Iosco County, Michigan
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Date
2022
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CRAIG, DAVID WILLIAM. Source Identification of Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Cedar Lake, Alcona and Iosco County, Michigan. (Under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Guthrie Nichols).
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large group of organic chemicals produced for the use in a variety of consumer, commercial, industrial, and military applications. In 2017, Michigan formed the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) whose goal was to be proactive in its responsiveness to the mitigation of PFAS type chemicals in the state and establish state specific drinking water and groundwater criteria for seven PFAS chemicals. The purpose of this project was to investigate Cedar Lake, Michigan which has had concentrations of PFAS detected to determine a potential source of these chemicals.
In total, two surface water samples and two surface water foam sample analytical results from Cedar Lake were compared to ten other surface water body PFAS analytical results with no known PFAS source. The results from Cedar Lake were consistent with the analytical results from the ten surface water bodies, indicating that the PFAS detected at Cedar Lake may not be part of a local contamination plume, but background PFAS levels in surface water bodies in Michigan. The Cedar Lake analytical results were reinforced by comparing them to the surface water and surface water foam results from Van Etten Lake, a local lake in the vicinity of Cedar Lake that is considered a PFAS Site in Michigan. Cedar Lake PFAS concentrations were consistently lower for each analyte compared to Van Etten Lake. Additionally, groundwater monitoring wells and localized groundwater flow indicate that the PFAS detected at Cedar Lake was not caused by groundwater contamination, but likely from background sources like atmospheric deposition, surface runoff from the residential areas surrounding Cedar Lake, including recreational vehicle use
