Understanding PFAS Fate & Transport

This webinar included the following presentation:

Dave Woodward, Director of Remediation Technology, AECOM
Dr. Erika Houtz, Project Engineer, Arcadis
Jeff Burdick, Senior Vice President, Arcadis

Understanding PFAS Fate & Transport [PDF]

The webinar covered:

• Background, including: basic characteristics, historic uses & types of sources, recent news, & regulatory developments
• Atmospheric transport of volatile PFAS
• Subsurface transport & retardation of PFAS in groundwater
• Abiotic & biological transformation of precursors/polyfluorinated compounds
• Four case studies of PFAS fate & transport at real PFAS-impacted sites:
  • fire training areas
  • manufacturing sources with multiple release pathways
  • landfarming of PFAS-impacted manufacturing waste

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large class of chemicals that have been used in numerous consumer and industrial processes due to their oil and water resistant properties and their exceptional stability. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are two of the most common PFAS found in the environment and in the human body. PFAS have been widely used in many applications, including for carpet and fabric protection, in food packaging, and in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) used for firefighting.

PFAS are a diverse compound class, so they possess a range of fate and transport properties that depend heavily on the individual compound(s) in question. Understanding fate and transport at a particular site is also dependent on the source(s) of their release to the environment and the specific hydrogeologic and other physical and chemical conditions present.