PFAS Experts Symposium: Statements on regulatory policy, chemistry and analytics, toxicology, transport/fate, and remediation for per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination issues

Simon, John; Abrams, Stew; Bradburne, Tim; Bryant, Daniel J.; Burns, Matthew J.; Cassidy, Daniel P.; Cherry, John A.; Chiang, Sheau-Yun Dora; Cox, Douglas; Crimi, Michelle; Denly, Elizabeth; DiGuiseppi, Bill; Fenstermacher, Jim; Fiorenza, Stephanie; Guarnaccia, J.; Hagelin, Nathan W.; Hall, Linda C.; Hesemann, John; Houtz, Erika; Koenigsberg, Stephen S.; Lauzon, Francois; Longsworth, Jeffrey; Maher, Tom; McGrath, Angus; Naidu, Ravi; Newell, Charles J.; Parker, Beth L.; Singh, Tadbir; Tomiczek, Paul; Wice, Rick

doi:10.1002/rem.21624

Cited by 69 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Although PFAS was produced in relatively large quantities since the early 1950s, it was only in the 1990s that it was realized that PFAS was present in the environment on a global scale, which prompted the development of improved analytical methods (Trojanowicz and Koc, 2013). Currently, PFAS analysis is still hampered by the lack of regulatory‐approved methods for most PFAS in water and all PFAS in soils and by interferences due to the presence of PFAS in consumer products and sampling and lab equipment (Simon et al, 2019). However, the current methods can detect PFAS at ppt levels in groundwater, providing an important driver for identifying a large number of sites.…”

Section: Qualitative Pfas Analogs From Cvoc and Btex Remediation Expementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Simon et al (2019) concluded that “ Uncertainties remain related to human health and ecological effects for most PFAS; however, regulatory standards and guidance are being established incorporating safety factors that result in part per trillion (ppt) cleanup objectives. Given the thousands of PFAS that may be present in the environment, a more appropriate paradigm may be to develop toxicity criteria for groups of PFAS rather than individual PFAS.”…”

Section: Qualitative Pfas Analogs From Cvoc and Btex Remediation Expementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been increasing concern regarding the presence of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in soil and groundwater. Based on their current knowledge, a symposium of 60 PFAS experts in mid‐2019 developed this consensus (Simon et al, 2019):

The consensus message from the Symposium participants is that PFAS present far more complex challenges to the environmental community than prior contaminants. This is because, in contrast to chlorinated solvents, PFAS are severely complicated by their mobility, persistence, toxicological uncertainties, and technical obstacles to remediation—all under the backdrop of stringent regulatory and policy developments that vary by state and will be further driven by the USEPA.

But even if PFAS ends up being less toxic than currently perceived, their solubility, mobility, and persistence in the subsurface will yield contaminated footprints and plume volumes that dwarf those caused by more common contaminants (e.g., petroleum constituents, chlorinated solvents, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing PFAS to other groundwater contaminants: Implications for remediation

Newell

Adamson

Kulkarni

et al. 2020

Remediation Journal

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Established groundwater contaminants such as chlorinated solvents and hydrocarbons have impacted groundwater at hundreds of thousands of sites around the United States and have been responsible for multibillion dollar remediation expenditures. An important question is whether groundwater remediation for the emerging contaminant class comprised of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will be a smaller, similar, or a larger‐scale problem than the established groundwater contaminants. A two‐pronged approach was used to evaluate this question in this paper. First, nine quantitative scale‐of‐remediation metrics were used to compare PFAS to four established contaminants: chlorinated solvents, benzene, 1,4‐dioxane, and methyl tert‐butyl ether. These metrics reflected the prevalence of the contaminants in the U.S., attenuation potential, remediation difficulty, and research intensity. Second, several key challenges identified with PFAS remediation were evaluated to see similar situations (qualitative analogs) that have been addressed by the remediation field in the past. The results of the analysis show that four out of nine of the evaluated quantitative metrics (production, number of potential sites, detection frequency, required destruction/removal efficiency) indicate that the scale of PFAS groundwater remediation may be smaller compared to the current scale of remediation for conventional groundwater contaminants. One attenuation metric, median plume length, suggests that overall PFAS remediation could pose a greater challenge compared to hydrocarbon sites, but only slightly larger than chlorinated volatile organic compounds sites. The second attenuation metric, hydrophobic sorption, was not definitive regarding the potential scale of PFAS remediation. The final three metrics (regulatory criteria, in‐situ remediation capability, and research intensity) all indicate that PFAS remediation might end up being a larger scale problem than the established contaminants. An assessment of the evolution of groundwater remediation capabilities for established contaminants identified five qualitative analogs for key PFAS groundwater remediation issues: (a) low‐level detection analytical capabilities; (b) methods to assess the risk of complex chemical mixtures; (c) nonaqueous phase dissolution as an analog for partitioning, precursors, and back diffusion at PFAS sites; (d) predictions of long plume lengths for emerging contaminants; and (e) monitored natural attenuation protocols for other non‐degrading groundwater contaminants. Overall the evaluation of these five analogs provided some comfort that, while remediating the potential universe of PFAS sites will be extremely challenging, the groundwater community has relevant past experience that may prove useful. The quantitative metrics and the qualitative analogs suggest a different combination of remediation approaches may be needed to deal with PFAS sites and may include source control, natural attenuation, in‐situ sequestration, containment, and point‐of‐use tr...

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Section: Qualitative Pfas Analogs From Cvoc and Btex Remediation Expementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Qualitative Pfas Analogs From Cvoc and Btex Remediation Expementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Comparing PFAS to other groundwater contaminants: Implications for remediation

Newell

Adamson

Kulkarni

et al. 2020

Remediation Journal

Self Cite

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“…A symposium, participated by leading scientific, engineering, regulatory, and legal communities, to discuss chemistry, assessment, fate, transport, toxicology, and remediation methods was held in Virginia in 2019 (Simon et al, 2019). The participants concurred that PFAS grants a complex problem to scientific and environmental community due to their mobility, persistence, lack of toxicological information, lack of remediation approaches, and regulatory standards.…”

Section: Pfas (Per-and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate of environmental pollutants: A review

Aryal

Wood

Rijal

et al. 2020

Water Environment Research

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A review of the literature published in 2019 on topics associated with the fate of environmental pollutants is presented. Environmental pollutants covered include pharmaceuticals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes, pesticides and veterinary medicines, personal care products and emerging pollutants, PFAS, microplastics, nanomaterials, heavy metals and radionuclides, nutrients, pathogens and indicator organisms, and oil and hydrocarbons. For each pollutant, the occurrence in the environment and/ or their fate in engineered as well as natural systems in matrices including water, soil, wastewater, stormwater, runoff, and/or manure is presented based on the published literature. The review includes current developments in understanding pollutants in natural and engineered systems, and relevant physico-chemical processes, as well as biological processes.

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“…Contamination by per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) of the natural environment, as well as purpose-built infrastructure, is a worldwide problem impacting many communities [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this study, an overview of trials is given where cement and fine aggregate replacements were sourced from heat-treated remediated soils that had been previously impacted by PFAS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suitability of Remediated PFAS-Affected Soil in Cement Pastes and Mortars

et al. 2020

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Australia and many other parts of the world face issues of contamination in groundwater and soils by per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). While the pyrolytic treatment of contaminated soils can destroy PFAS, the resulting heat-treated soils currently have limited applications. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of remediated soils in concrete applications. Using heat-treated soil as a fine aggregate, with a composition and particle size distribution similar to that of traditional concrete sands, proved to be a straightforward process. In such situations, complete fine aggregate replacement could be achieved with minimal loss of compressive strength. At high fine aggregate replacement (≥ 60%), a wetting agent was required for maintaining adequate workability. When using the heat-treated soil as a supplementary cementitious material, the initial mineralogy, the temperature of the heat-treatment and the post-treatment storage (i.e., keeping the soil dry) were found to be key factors. For cement mortars where minimal strength loss is desired, up to 15% of cement can be replaced, but up to 45% replacement can be achieved if moderate strengths are acceptable. This study successfully demonstrates that commercially heat-treated remediated soils can serve as supplementary cementitious materials or to replace fine aggregates in concrete applications.

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PFAS Experts Symposium: Statements on regulatory policy, chemistry and analytics, toxicology, transport/fate, and remediation for per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination issues

Cited by 69 publications

References 13 publications

Comparing PFAS to other groundwater contaminants: Implications for remediation

Comparing PFAS to other groundwater contaminants: Implications for remediation

Fate of environmental pollutants: A review

Suitability of Remediated PFAS-Affected Soil in Cement Pastes and Mortars

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