Developing innovative treatment technologies for PFAS-containing wastes

ABSTRACT

The release of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the environment is a major concern for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). To complement its ongoing research efforts addressing PFAS contamination, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) commissioned the PFAS Innovative Treatment Team (PITT) to provide new perspectives on treatment and disposal of high priority PFAS-containing wastes. During its six-month tenure, the team was charged with identifying and developing promising solutions to destroy PFAS. The PITT examined emerging technologies for PFAS waste treatment and selected four technologies for further investigation. These technologies included mechanochemical treatment, electrochemical oxidation, gasification and pyrolysis, and supercritical water oxidation. This paper highlights these four technologies and discusses their prospects and the development needed before potentially becoming available solutions to address PFAS-contaminated waste.

Implications: This paper examines four novel, non-combustion technologies or applications for the treatment of persistent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) wastes. These technologies are introduced to the reader along with their current state of development and areas for further development. This information will be useful for developers, policy makers, and facility managers that are facing increasing issues with disposal of PFAS wastes.

Acknowledgment

Funding for this work was provided by the U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development. The authors claim no competing interests. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection agency.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chelsea Berg

Chelsea Berg is a biologist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling in Research Triangle Park, NC, currently serving in a research support capacity. Her research areas include translational science, solutions-driven research, health impact assessments, and ecosystem services.

Brian Crone

Brian Crone is an environmental engineer with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response in Cincinnati, OH. His research focuses on membrane bioreactor systems.

Brian Gullett

Brian Gullett is a Scientific and Technical Professional (ST level), Senior Research Engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. His research has investigated formation mechanisms of chlorinated dioxins and furans in combustion systems, as well as other organohalogen compounds. His current work involves development of emission samplers for use on unmanned aircraft systems to characterize hazardous pollutants from open air combustion and detonation processes.

Mark Higuchi

Mark Higuchi is a supervisory toxicologist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment in Research Triangle Park, NC. His research focuses on inhalation toxicology.

Max J. Krause

Max J. Krause is a research environmental engineer with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response in Cincinnati, OH. His research focuses on PFAS, landfills, and waste management topics.

Paul M. Lemieux

Paul M. Lemieux is a senior research engineer with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response in Research Triangle Park, NC. His research focuses on waste management and development of decision support tools to help decision makers deal with wide-area CBRN responses.

Todd Martin

Todd Martin is a research chemist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure in Cincinnati, OH. His research focuses on computational toxicology, development of computer software applications, and quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models. He is the lead developer of TEST (Toxicity Estimation Software Tool) which allows users to easily estimate several toxicity and physical property endpoints from molecular structure.

Erin P. Shields

Erin P. Shields is a physical scientist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling in Research Triangle Park, NC. He currently researches methods to evaluate PFAS destruction techniques and characterize their emissions.

Ed Struble

Ed Struble is a management and program analyst with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Eben Thoma

Eben Thoma is a research physical scientist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling in Research Triangle Park, NC. His research focuses on characterization of difficult to measure air pollution sources and their impacts using next generation measurement approaches.

Andrew Whitehill

Andrew Whitehill is an analytical chemist and Physical Scientist with EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Environmental Measurement and Modeling in Research Triangle Park, NC. Dr. Whitehill’s research includes mechanochemical destruction of PFAS and measurement of air toxics and volatile organic compounds in ambient air.