Due to the complexity of PFAS and the many ways it can be managed, there is never a one-size-fits-all solution. Your specific situation, PFAS waste stream makeup, and sustainability goals play major roles in determining the best approach.
By Sharon Schafer
Looking at the news over the past few years, PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, has been quickly emerging as one of the largest environmental challenges of this century. Commonly known as 鈥榝orever chemicals鈥�, PFAS is a group of chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, and many thousands of other synthetic chemicals that have been used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products. Research has shown that they have become pervasive in the environment and pose a health risk when accumulated in the body, creating a need to safely manage and remove these contaminants.
Protecting communities from PFAS has become a focal point for many regulatory agencies in the past several years, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releasing a strategic roadmap in 2021 focused on researching PFAS, restricting its use by introducing regulations on waste streams containing PFAS, and remediating PFAS-impacted environments to protect human health and ecological systems.
Most recently, the EPA finalized CERCLA hazardous substance designations for two commonly used PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, in April 2024. The EPA has also issued drinking water standards to reduce community exposure to PFAS, as well as provided interim guidance on how to properly manage materials and waste streams containing PFAS.
Images courtesy of Crystal Clean.
How Has PFAS Become Prevalent in The Environment?
PFAS was introduced in manufacturing in the 1950s and has been present in a wide variety of materials and products used every day, such as stain-resistant or waterproof fabrics, food packaging materials, non-stick cookware, aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), and much more. PFAS is commonly used because of its resistance to heat, water, oil, grease, and stains. PFAS does not break down naturally in the environment due to the strong chemical chain that is formed, leading to the nickname 鈥榝orever chemicals鈥�.
Materials containing PFAS that are not recycled or repurposed frequently end up in landfills after use. Because PFAS chemicals do not break down naturally, they easily contaminate any leachate that is generated as rainwater filters through waste placed in the landfill. Many decades of accumulation, use, and disposed materials containing PFAS chemicals leaching through soil into ground waters has been a major contributing factor to how PFAS has become prevalent in the environment. The Environmental Working Group estimates there are more than 41,000 industrial and municipal sites that are known to use or produce, suspected to use, or are a suspected source of PFAS.
With more than 70 years of use in many industries, PFAS was initially an unknown language, and many people did not know of the possible dangers it presented to humans and the environment. As humans who exist on this planet, we should all be concerned with things that impact our health, wellbeing, and especially our future families. The challenge is, where do we go from here?
What Can Landfills Do to Manage Leachate Contaminated With PFAS?
As PFAS has continued to become a topic of concern, companies have been implementing ways to properly manage these waste streams, so they do not continue to negatively impact the environment. Because PFAS chemicals never broke down in landfills, they have caused contamination levels to continue growing. This has led to high levels of PFAS detected in landfill leachates, which require effective treatment to properly separate and destroy.
In recent years, many solutions have been introduced to the marketplace to provide options for the removal and destruction of PFAS chemicals from the environment. The solution needed depends on the unique makeup of the waste stream being treated, as well as your own business and sustainability goals.
Technologies to Remove PFAS From Contaminated Waste Streams
Foam Fractionation
Foam Fractionation harnesses the power of pure air to effectively and rapidly remove PFAS from contaminated waters. Foam fractionation can achieve up to a 99.9 percent removal rate of PFOS and PFOA, as well as many other short chain PFAS chemistries. This robust technology is unaffected by the presence of co-contaminants and has PFAS concentration factors up to two million, meaning two million gallons of contaminated waters can be treated to generate one gallon of PFAS concentrate. The PFAS concentrate is then easier and cheaper to destroy than untreated waters. Foam fractionation systems can be fully automated to allow for minimal hands-on
operation.
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)
GAC has been introduced to the market as an organic material to remove PFAS from waters. GAC has a high content of carbon and is used as a filter that PFAS contaminated waters are run through. GAC adsorbs most PFAS molecules. The spent GAC must then be prepared for disposal and replenished to prevent any potential PFAS release.
High-Pressure Membranes
High-pressure membranes remove PFAS from contaminated waters using a filtration method, such as reverse osmosis or nanofiltration. These methods filter out PFAS and creates two streams coming out of the filter, one being filtered water and the other being the removed, concentrated PFAS. According to an EPA study, these methods have an 88 to 99 percent effectiveness at treating certain PFAS, and filters must be replaced over time to maintain a high level of effectiveness.
Technologies to Dispose or Destroy PFAS
Deep Well Injection
PFAS waste can be disposed through injection into deep wells that are located far below drinking water aquifers and are made up of porous geologic formations. Compared to other hazardous wastes disposed through deep well injection, PFAS does not require any specialized treatment.
Incineration
Hazardous waste incinerators that can burn waste above 850o Celsius have the capability to effectively destroy PFAS. However, there is concern that any PFAS chemicals that are not completely destroyed during incineration can pollute the nearby environment.
Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO)
SCWO can be used to treat fluids containing PFAS by using a combination of high pressure and high temperature. When held at high pressure and temperatures, most PFAS bonds break down to non-detectable levels and all that is left is water, carbon dioxide, and salts.
Electrochemical Oxidation (ECO)
ECO treats PFAS contaminated liquids by using an electrochemical process that degrades PFAS and breaks down the chemical bonds, generating water, carbon dioxide, and fluoride.
How Do I Determine the Correct Approach for Me?
The PFAS remediation and destruction market is a space that is experiencing innovation at a rapid pace, with many companies rising to the occasion to bring solutions to the marketplace that help solve the problem of PFAS. Due to the complexity of PFAS and the many ways it can be managed, there is never a one-size-fits-all solution. Your specific situation, PFAS waste stream makeup, and sustainability goals play major roles in determining the best approach. That is why many companies in this space offer not only a product or service, but also a partnership approach to provide you with a solution specific to your needs. We all have a role to play in protecting the earth鈥檚 resources, and together we can solve the problem of PFAS. | WA
Sharon Schafer is Crystal Clean鈥檚 National Account Manager, Wastewater and PFAS Treatment. Crystal Clean is a national leader in the environmental services market, protecting the Earth鈥檚 resources by helping the business world run cleaner. Crystal Clean serves as the exclusive operator and distributor of 4never鈩�, a closed-loop PFAS solution to remove and destroy PFAS from contaminated waters. Sharon can be reached at (616) 862-2024 or [email protected]. For more information, visit .
References
www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action-2021-2024
www.epa.gov/epcra/designation-pfoa-and-pfos-hazardous-substances-under-cercla-release-reporting-requirements
www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/2021_suspected_industrial_discharges_of_pfas/map
www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-09/multi-industry-pfas-study_
preliminary-2021-report_508_2021.09.08.pdf