Hazen and Sawyer’s Post

Addressing Analytical Challenges for PFAS 'The Forever Chemical' Contamination Novel and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a key concern in global environmental studies. Join us for a webinar where Sori Mok Ph.D. from the Department of Marine Science and Convergence Technology at Hanyang University, will discuss target and non-target analyses of neutral PFAS from fluorochemical industries using GC-MS/MS and GC-TOF. https://lnkd.in/dmskv4tK #PFAS #GC #GCMS #GCTOF

I’ve been aware of this work of Joudan et al. (2001) about TFA in the environment for a while, but Andy Baker post has prompted me to add some thoughts about TFA: Frank et al. (2002, Env Sci Tech 36) concluded that TFA was naturally occurring in oceans at a concentration of around 200 ng/l, but the Joudan study claims that there is insufficient evidence for this assertion. Frank et al. acknowledged funding from AFEAS (Alternative Fluorocarbon Environmental). This was in an era where mandatory conflict of interest statements were the exception, but I’d love to know more about the AFEAS; at first glance it appears to be a sub-committee of the International Institute of Refrigeration which is, I think, an inter-governmental ‘QUANGO’. Although I’m not saying that any conflict of interest existed with respect to Frank et al., it is a truism that commercial entities are increasingly using academic journals to deliver a sales or regulatory message, and this is certainly currently the case around PFAS. Very recently I read an article, that was complete nonsense for a technical perspective by the way, in a peer-reviewed journal that gave a very positive sales message about the product of a company who I know to work with the primary author, and yet no declaration of a conflict of interest was made at all. Quite the embarrassment for all concerned. To anybody reading this, please be straightforward about potential conflicts of interest when publishing your work, because if you don’t it simply undermines the scientific process. Regular readers of mine will know that I occasionally do my nut where I hear yet another silly billy refer to PFAS as ‘forever chemicals’. They are not, and nominating them as such simply gives decision makers a get-out-of-jail card; why spend money on fixing a problem that is there forever? I have seen field data of PFAS-contaminated groundwater that strongly suggests that perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids degrade in the environment to smaller homologues (specifically from PFOA to PFBA) as they would, albeit very slowly because the activation energy is so low, as they progress down the gradient of Gibbs free energy. It seems axiomatic that TFA will eventually be formed. I don’t know much about the toxicity of TFA, although I acknowledge that there may be some studies out there. However, because of the very low molecular volume, meaning very low adsorption coefficient to surfaces, TFA will be very readily rejected in urine via the kidneys, rather than reporting to stool, so is possibly not toxic to humans much at all. Maybe you have already noticed, but TFA is quite easy to remove from water by distillative methods, because it forms an almost uniquely-friendly azeotrope with water. https://lnkd.in/eA35nzPC

Potassium monopersulfate (KMPS), often known as potassium peroxymonosulfate, is a powerful, non-chlorine oxidizing agent widely used across multiple industries. From pool maintenance and water treatment to electronics and environmental remediation,...

See the many data points? Susan Oginah explains that Mixture Toxic Pressure (msPAF-EC10 as unit) relates to Potentially Disappeared Species (PDF), extracted from multiple-stressed situations. PAF2PDF is close to 1:1!!!! Very important for Life Cycle Analysis, to anchor chemical pollution impacts on the PDF-units of other impact categories! To further understand what is ongoing, think of the "splash-o-meter": almost no insects any more on your car window or between your teeth when travelling. Your own biomonitor illustrates what Susan analysed quantitatively. Well presented, Susan! #SETAC, Susan Oginah ,#LCA, #chemical, #mixture, #biodiversity

#CallforPapers We are editing a special issue titled "PFAS Management in Water and Wastewater" for the Journal of Water Process Engineering (Elsevier)! The primary focus of this virtual special issue (VSI: PFAS Management) is to enhance engineering practices for degradation, mineralization, and removal of PFAS in water and wastewater streams. We aim to encompass the complex difficulties presented by PFAS by gathering state-of-the-art research results, thorough original research articles, reviews, case studies, and large-scale experiments. You are welcome to submit your high-quality manuscript to this special issue! Please find more here: https://lnkd.in/dBt6Z_NX Guest Editors: Mohammad Mahdi A. Shirazi University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada Ludovic (Ludo) DUMEE Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Nirupam Aich, Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of America #PFAS #Remediation #Water #Wastewater #PFOA #PFOS #DrinkingWater #EPA #ForEverChemicals #Mineralization #MembraneTechnology #AdvancedOxidation #BiologicalTreatment #HybridProcess

I am honored to share my first paper, which has been published in the “Journal of Environmental Management” (IF: 8.7). It represents a groundbreaking work in the realm of electrocatalysts. In this research, an indigenous isolate, identified as Lactococcus lactis AM99, was harnessed to reduce hazardous Cr(VI) to low-toxic and insoluble Cr(III). This isolate exhibited an exceptional bioreduction rate of 88% at 300 mg/l Cr(VI) within 72 h, surpassing any previous research. https://lnkd.in/dsg7etpA   #electrocatalyst #bioreduction #chromium  #EPS

Have your say! Spills of oils and chemicals and other pollutants in the marine environment remain a significant threat. 🛢️🌊 The requirement for response capability, improved preparedness and effective post-incident monitoring and assessment remains undiminished. Premiam is a cross-governmental and industry initiative led by Cefas' impact assessment experts. Together, we work to improve the processes initiating impact assessment and the application of robust scientific principles to post spill monitoring. You’re invited to have your say prior to publication of the 3rd edition of our Premiam guidelines: https://lnkd.in/eJaWMK8N The updated guidance will include a range of new materials including but not limited to: 🥤 reference to new/emerging contaminants (e.g. plastics) 🧬 inclusion of new monitoring techniques and technologies (e.g. genomic and forensic approaches) 📋 applicability to wider geographic environments (e.g. corals, mangroves) Email premiam@cefas.gov.uk before 31st July 2024 to have your say!

The United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 1633 is an analysis method for the detection and quantitation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a variety of matrices including wastewater, soils, solids, and tissues. This application note addresses PFAS testing in aqueous wastewater samples per the EPA method using optimized solid-phase sample extraction and LC/MS/MS analysis with the Agilent 1290 Infinity II liquid chromatograph (LC) system coupled to the Agilent 6470 triple quadrupole (TQ) mass spectrometer. This study verified method development and performance in terms of analyte extraction recoveries, linearity, sensitivity (method detection limits), and reproducibility. read more :https://lnkd.in/dNg9_wby

Very proud to announce the publication of Hydrothermal Destruction and Defluorination of Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) in Environmental Science & Technology as of today! 🎉 Congratulations to Conrad Austin, Anmol Purohit, Cody Thomsen, Timothy Strathmann, and Igor Novosselov for conducting an excellent study and once again proving that HALT works exceptionally well to destroy PFAS. 👏 In this work, we demonstrate several crucial aspects of the HALT technology: 1) TFA, the simplest and smallest perfluorocarboxylic acid, can be destroyed under relatively mild HALT conditions (low temperatures and low chemical dosing). This has huge implications for the practical implementation of HALT systems for TFA treatment applications, as the energy and chemical costs can be kept much lower. 2) The alkaline amendment (the "AL" in HALT) is crucial to prevent the production of volatile organofluorine (VOF) gases under hydrothermal conditions. Without an alkaline amendment, TFA is converted into fluoroform, a potent greenhouse gas with >11,000x the global warming potential of CO2. The alkaline conditions of HALT are one of the reasons why we can fully "mineralize" PFAS (convert PFAS to inorganic fluoride) and one of the reasons why HALT, in a PFAS destruction context, is superior to similar technologies such as pyrolysis, gasification, and HTL, which all have the potential to convert PFAS into VOFs. 3) Building on that idea, our ability to mineralize fluoroform, (a.k.a. freon, or R-22) with HALT demonstrates that we can use HALT to mineralize and treat legacy hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants at mild conditions. This presents a huge opportunity for a greener HFC disposal option, over the current practice of incineration. Well done team, proud to be part of this effort. #PFAS #endingPFAS #science #environment #refrigerants #cleantech https://lnkd.in/gGKebPSn

The recent discovery of the comammox bacterium might prove pivotal in a new and improved approach to wastewater purification #tpo #tpomagazine #treatmentplant #treatmentplantoperator #wastewater #watertreatment https://loom.ly/AJQY2lk