PFAS Concentrations in the Elbe River System, 129 Samples

Anne Röhrig's dataset provides measurements of 83 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) across the Elbe River–North Sea continuum. It includes 129 samples from the main river, its tributaries, and wastewater treatment plants, quantifying concentrations and mass loads. The data was last updated on March 19, 2026, and is shared under a CC-BY-NC-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Assess the dominant role of ultrashort-chain PFAS like TFA based on concentration and load data.
• Model source apportionment and river-to-sea transport of contaminants based on tributary and WWTP inputs.
• Identify overlooked industrial PFAS sources based on the detection of compounds like Capstone B and NTf2.
• Evaluate gaps in regulatory monitoring frameworks by comparing regulated and unregulated PFAS compounds.

Strengths

• Covers 83 diverse PFAS compounds, including ultrashort-, short-, and long-chain PFAS and precursors.
• Based on 129 samples from the Elbe River, its major tributaries, and wastewater treatment plants.
• Quantifies mass loads in grams per day for specific tributaries, such as 6,080 g/day from the Vltava when including TFA.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Elbe River system study area.

Provenance

Source

Anne Röhrig via figshare.

Collection Method

Samples collected from the Elbe River, its tributaries (Saale, Vltava, Mulde), and wastewater treatment plants in Dresden and Pardubice.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-19 02:18:31; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Elbe River–North Sea continuum, approximately 1,200 km, including the Geesthacht reference point.