Assessing and Mitigating Bias in PFAS Levels during Ground and Surface Water Sampling
Funding Agency: SERDP ER-1205
Project description: The overall goal of this project is to identify and minimize potential biases that are introduced when sampling groundwater and surface water for PFASs and provide a scientific basis for revised PFAS sampling and analysis protocols. Project objectives include: 1] determine the factors that impact PFAS stratification in water columns (surface water and wells) and identify sampling approaches that minimize bias during sampling, 2] systematically evaluate field materials and procedures (including decontamination) to eliminate bias when collecting water samples.
Biomimetic Chromatography for Rapid Assessment of Bioaccumulation (BioCRAB) in PFAS-impacted Aquatic Food Webs
Funding Source: SERDP ER-4250
Project description: The overall goal of this project is to evaluate the ability of biomimetic chromatography and tissue fractionation measurements to enable a mechanistic understanding of PFAS bioaccumulation that could be directly applied to PFAS risk assessment, especially for the dozens to hundreds of PFAS for which empirical PFAS bioaccumulation metrics are currently unavailable. If successful, these pharma-research techniques have the capability to save DoD millions of dollars and dozens of years of research, reduce uncertainty with current site investigations and new AFFF formulations, and advance a new paradigm for understanding the biological behavior of PFAS.
PFAS Eco-Risk Framework: Developing Ex-Vivo Approaches to Support PFAS Water Permitting and Effluent Monitoring for Industrial Site Application
Funding Source: Concawe
Project description: This project is a collaborative project between NewFields, the University of Pittsburgh, Oregon State University, and the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center. This work will provide an ex vivo approach to determine biologically-relevant partitioning coefficients for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in support of developing effluent limitation monitoring requirements in Europe and across the globe.
Quantification and Identification of PFAS and Total Fluorine during Thermal Degradation of Fluoropolymers in the Presence of Explosives
Funding Source: SERDP WP-3241
Project description: The overall objective of this project is to quantify and characterize gas- and particle-phase PFAS during the thermal degradation of fluoropolymeric materials including Teflon®, Viton®, and Kel-F®, the Plastic Bonded Explosive (PBX), and Magnesium/Teflon®/Viton® (MTV) pyrotechnics, while also accounting for mass balance, and to understand the mechanisms that control the release of thermal byproducts. The specific objectives are to 1] characterize the PFAS thermal degradation products formed from neat fluoropolymers and to characterize fluoropolymer phase as a function of temperature and time, 2] characterize the PFAS thermal degradation products formed from fluoropolymers mixed with explosives (PBX), 3] to characterize the residue and PFAS thermal degradation pathway of fluoropolymers in MTV, 4] to characterize the PFAS degradation products emitted during small-scale open-burn of neat fluoropolymers and fluoropolymers mixed with explosives, 5] conduct technology transfer, and 6] perform requisite reporting to SERDP.
Comprehensive Forensic Approach for Source Allocation of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances
(TOC Art from Joseph et al. 2023 Environ Sci Technol, 57, 14351-14352.)
Funding Source: SERDP ER-1375
Project description: The overall goal of this project is to develop and validate a forensic approach for source allocation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) present in impacted waters so as to differentiate PFAS impacts associated with the use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) versus non-AFFF sources. This work is predicated on the assumption that there is significant overlap in terms of the types of terminal perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) formed from environmental transformations of polyfluoroalkyl substances released from various sources. We are testing the hypothesis that significant differences in the relative abundances of PFAS will exist between types of sources such that a general chemical “fingerprint” of each source can be developed for the purpose of differentiating AFFF from non-AFFF sources.
Field Assessment of PFAS-impacted LNAPL
Funding Source: SERDP ER-1259 (subsumed)
Project description: The main objectives of this project are to 1] identify potential field sites impacted by LNAPL and PFAS in the form of thermodynamically stable microemulsions or mixtures, 2] document sites with PFAS-impacted LNAPL and identify factors for predicting the occurrence such phases, 3] develop a predictive tool/ model to simulate past, present and future PFAS-impacted LNAPL behavior, and 4] identify potential technologies to recover and separate PFAS from LNAPL.