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National PFAS Soil Inventory

Where does PFAS actually sit in the soil — and how much? We harmonized measured soil concentrations from public agency reports across 39 states, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands into one depth-resolved, source-anchored inventory. The summary is public and the full inventory opens with a SWATGenX account; the Zenodo v1.0 deposit is cited but bulk files are embargoed through December 2026.

Map of soil PFAS records by state across the United States, with Alaska inset
Measured soil PFAS records per state (log color scale; counts labeled on each state). Alaska is shown in the inset with its real inventory total. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands also contribute records and are included in the live summary stats below — they are omitted from this CONUS+Alaska bitmap.

The inventory at a glance

30,972
analytical records
measured soil PFAS concentrations, as reported by the source agency
141
agency source datasets
state environmental agencies, DoD, and remedial investigations
41
states
from Alaska to Florida — wherever public soil PFAS sampling exists
72
PFAS analytes
the full reported panel — PFOS, PFOA, and dozens more compounds
5,812
soil borings
depth-resolved profiles, not just surface grabs
AFFF
dominant source
fire-training areas — the signature soil PFAS setting

Open data, cited — and modelled here

The inventory is open research data: the frozen v1.0 release is cited at Zenodo DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21096358 under its own licence, and bulk Zenodo files are embargoed through December 2026 while the live inventory on SWATGenX continues to grow. Browsing it inside the Watershed Explorer — with the map and the modelling around it — is part of a SWATGenX account.

Browse in the Explorer Zenodo deposit (embargoed through 2026)

Why it exists

Sign in to read why this inventory exists and how it was built.

What it feeds

The inventory is the source-term half of coupled PFAS modeling on SWATGenX. Paired with the national groundwater lithology inventory, it lets a SWAT+MODFLOW-6 model start from measured soil concentrations and carry them through the unsaturated zone, the aquifer, and back to the stream — instead of prescribing a plume out of thin air. At sites like Gabreski (Long Island) and Wurtsmith (Michigan), the measured soil profile is the model's input. For the mechanisms that carry PFAS from that soil down through the vadose zone and aquifer, see the PFAS fate & transport guide.