PFAS New fact sheets provide guidance on emerging contaminants
GHD contributes to new chemical fact sheets
23 April 2018
GHD:
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) are a class of emerging contaminants attracting
growing attention. To address the growing concerns around PFAS, the
Interstate
Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) developed six fact sheets
that summarize the latest science and emerging
technologies. These fact
sheets are relatively short (less than 20 pages each) and are written to
be understood by readers who do not have a technical background. As
such, the ITRC anticipates that these fact sheets will be a valuable
resource for project manager, regulators, consultants, responsible
parties, and stakeholders.
The fact sheets are available on the ITRC website and
include the following:
1. Naming Conventions and Physical and Chemical Properties
The naming conventions for the many, varied PFAS are complicated and
have changed over time as more information has become available. It is
important to have an up-to-date summary of the terminology, names, and
acronyms for PFAS. This fact sheet focuses on the names of the PFAS most
commonly found in the
environment, provides an overview of known
physical and chemical properties, and current data gaps for PFAS
properties.
2. Regulations, Guidance, and Advisories
Important regulations and advisories for PFAS in the
environment have been recently released by USEPA and several states,
although these are likely to expand and change as more information
becomes available. This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the
existing regulatory and guidance values. The fact sheet describes the
primary state and U.S. programs used to regulate PFAS, summarizes
current values for groundwater, drinking
water, surface water/ effluent, and soil, and discusses the basis
for differences in various federal and state drinking water criteria for
PFOA and PFOS.
3. History and Use
The fact sheet provides a brief history of the discovery and development
of PFAS, their subsequent detection in the environment, emerging
concerns of potential adverse human health effects, and efforts to
reduce their use or develop less toxic replacement formulations. It also
describes the sources of PFAS in the environment and the specific
contaminants likely associated with those sources.
4. Environmental Fate and Transport
The fate and transport of PFAS are complicated by the number and
diversity of substances involved, their frequent occurrence as mixtures,
and by the variety of PFAS source materials. This fact sheet describes
key processes associated with four of the most common PFAS sources: fire
training/fire response sites, industrial sites, landfills, and
wastewater treatment plants/biosolids. The processes described are
partitioning, transport in air and water, and both
abiotic and biotic transformations. The fact sheet also summarizes PFAS
occurrences in air, surface water, groundwater, soil/sediment, and biota
(plants, invertebrates, fish, and humans), and identifies the processes
that influence the concentrations found in each of these media.
5. Site Characterization Tools, Sampling Techniques, and
Laboratory Analytical Methods
PFAS contamination poses several unique site characterization and
analytical challenges because very low concentrations of several
different substances must be sampled and analyzed, and these substances
often occur in complex mixtures that can change over time. This fact
sheet describes the characterization tools, sampling techniques, and
analytical methods that are special or unique to PFAS, many of which
have been developed only recently.
6. Remediation Technologies and Methods
PFAS are very resistant to destructive treatment technologies and can be
expensive to remove using existing technologies. Several innovative
technologies for PFAS removal and treatment have been recently
commercialized, while others are under development. This fact sheet
provides an overview of the technologies and methods currently available
for both soil and water treatment, and also identifies and describes the
general treatment processes under development. Challenges and
limitations are discussed for each process. These are likely to expand
and change as more information becomes available.
Sarah Gewurtz in GHD’s Waterloo, Ontario, office co-led the working
group that developed the Environmental Fate and Transport fact sheet.
Heather Lanza, originally from GHD’s Dallas office, but currently
residing in Sydney, was the primary author on the topic of biota,
particularly with regards to fish. Ryan Thomas from GHD’s Niagara Falls,
New York, office was a primary author on the Site Characterization
Tools, Sampling Techniques, and Laboratory Analytical Methods fact
sheet.
ITRC is a public-private coalition that publishes documents and conducts
training to expand knowledge and expedite quality regulatory decision
making in the United States and beyond. ITRC is also currently working
on a technical regulatory guidance document on PFAS, in which GHD is
actively involved.
ITRC website: https://pfas-1.itrcweb.org/fact-sheets/
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Source: GHD - www.ghd.com
Contact: N/A
External Links: ITRC website
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