Dataset of surveyed PFAS in water, sediment, and soil of Fountain Creek Watershed, Colorado, USA

Jose Caleb Quezada Davalos; Michael A Michaud; Luis E Lowe; Emily N Hanson; Eric P Gaulke; Janel E Owens

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.109280

Dataset of surveyed PFAS in water, sediment, and soil of Fountain Creek Watershed, Colorado, USA

Data Brief. 2023 May 31:49:109280. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109280. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Jose Caleb Quezada Davalos^{1

2}, Michael A Michaud^{1

3}, Luis E Lowe¹, Emily N Hanson¹, Eric P Gaulke^{1

4}, Janel E Owens¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, United States.
² Fountain-Fort Carson High School, 900 Jimmy Camp Rd, Fountain, CO 80917, United States.
³ Ultradent Products, Inc., 505 W 10200 S, South Jordan, UT 84095, United States.
⁴ Compounder's International Analytical Laboratory, 4760 Castleton Way Suite A, Castle Rock, CO 80109, United States.

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread and highly persistent organic chemicals with adverse health effects. The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued health advisory limits of 70 ng/L for aqueous concentrations of PFOA + PFOS. In the Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA), metro area, the Widefield Aquifer (groundwater) and Fountain Creek Watershed (surface water) have been contaminated by PFAS from aqueous film-forming foams. Here we present the concentrations of selected linear and branched isomers of legacy PFAS found in surface water (n = 95), soil (n = 83), and sediment (n = 34) samples collected from several creeks of the Fountain Creek Watershed. Collected samples were prepared for high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analysis via liquid/liquid extraction and/or solid phase extraction (SPE). This dataset includes the geographic locations of sampled creeks, LC/MS/MS instrumental conditions, method verification data including percent recovery to assess method accuracy and background contamination of PFAS in laboratory reagents and supplies, and determined concentrations of PFAS in water, soil, and sediment samples. These locations were surveyed monthly for a full year and provide a rich dataset to assess influence of sampling location, temporal variability in concentration, and overall contaminant persistence.

Keywords: Contamination; Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry; Long- and short-chain PFAS; PFAS; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Watershed.