Tabea Mumberg

About Tabea Mumberg

I am a doctoral student at the department of Earth Sciences with focus on contaminant hydrogeology and environmental science. I am part of the FORMAS project "Artificial groundwater recharge – A shortcut for harmful poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) into groundwater systems and drinking water supplies – Can we avoid this?", where we aim to investigate the input of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) to groundwater systems and drinking water supplies during managed aquifer recharge and possible remediation strategies.

Research interests: Emerging contaminants in aquatic systems are of increasing concern and of relevance to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, which aims to provide clean drinking water and a non-toxic environment. Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of about 5000 persistent contaminants found in a variety of products, such as fire extinguishing foams and water repellents.

These substances can cause severe health effects such as carcinogenicity as well as hepato- and immunotoxicity already at low concentrations in the ng/L range. For instance, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends keeping the daily intake of PFASs per kg body weight below 0.63 ng.

PFASs are commonly found in Swedish surface waters, but their migration pathways into groundwater systems and drinking water supplies during artificial groundwater recharge remains unclear. My PhD project will thus focus on the investigation of these PFASs migration pathways at different managed aquifer recharge plants. The aim is to understand the fate of these contaminants in raw water systems and to minimize PFASs concentrations prior to costly drinking water treatment.

Supervisors: Philipp Wanner, Lutz Ahrens (SLU)