ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE
The first and third authors then indepen- dently coded each question and placed each question into one of the five categories. The independent coding of each of the ques- tions resulted in the following Krippendor’s alpha: PFAS and water = 0.965 (Marzi et al., 2024). These results show high internal con- sistency and agreement among coders. As only 15% of people in the U.S. rely on pri- vate water sources (U.S. Geological Survey, 2019), most questions pertaining to private water and PFAS contamination did not rise to our attention because of the lower ques- tion volume. Any remaining questions related to private water supplies from wells were removed from the list. This filtering of ques- tions resulted in a final list of 97 questions related to PFAS and water.
FIGURE 1
Search Terms Related to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Average Monthly Search Volumes, July 2024
PFAS
110,000
Forever Chemicals
18,100
PFOA
14,800
Results
PFOS
9,900
Keyword Identification Figure 1 shows the list of the analyzed key- words. Semrush showed that the highest vol- ume of questions was centered around the keyword PFAS, followed by the colloquial term forever chemicals. More technical PFAS names (e.g., PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS) were not found in high-volume searches. The volume of searches for PFAS was 6-times higher than searches for forever chemicals and 7-times higher than the third-highest volume key- word PFOA [perfluorooctanoic acid]. PFAS was chosen for our analysis to answer RQ2 based on its much higher search volume compared with alternative terms (Figure 1). Analysis of Search Questions In July 2024, the average monthly U.S. Google search volume over the previous 12 months for PFAS and water combined was 8,840. Within those searches, almost one half (48.9%) of questions were inquiries to understand how to filter/remove PFAS from water. This category included questions such as: how to filter PFAS from water, if specific brands of filters remove PFAS, and does boiling water remove PFAS? The next highest category of questions was general questioning about PFAS in water, at 26.8% of questions. Examples of questions in this category included: what are PFAS in water and how does PFAS get into water? The third- highest category, with 16.7% of questions, was about which water contains PFAS; these questions centered on commercially available
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
Search Volume
Note. PFAS = per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; PFOA = perfluorooctanoic acid; PFOS = perfluorooctanesulfonic acid.
FIGURE 2
Percentage of Search Volume for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Water Question Categories
1.9%
5.7%
Questions How to Filter PFAS From Water What Is PFAS What Contains PFAS How to Test for PFAS Where PFAS Are
16.7%
48.9%
26.8%
Note. The total search volume was 8,840/month. The volume represents the average number of monthly searches in the U.S. based on data collected from the prior 12 months in July 2024.
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Volume 88 • Number 1
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