Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

PFAS- En sammanfattning av ny forskning, med ett fokus på föroreningskällor, provtagning, analysmetoder och saneringsmetoder

Nilsson, Sebastian LU (2022) In Examensarbeten i geologi vid Lunds universitet GEOL01 20221
Department of Geology
Abstract
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is a large group of pollutants that, over the last decade have been of great academic concern since it has been found all around the globe. PFAS is ubiquitous in our environment and frequently found in low background concentrations in soil and water; recent research has also found that PFAS occur in biotic samples, such as fish and plants. This literature study's primary focus is recent research regarding pollutant sources, sampling strategies, analytic methods for measuring PFAS in water and soil and finally methods for remediating a polluted area. Industrial and consumer products are a pollutant source of PFAS of great public concern. Products like firefighting foams and cosmetic items have been... (More)
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is a large group of pollutants that, over the last decade have been of great academic concern since it has been found all around the globe. PFAS is ubiquitous in our environment and frequently found in low background concentrations in soil and water; recent research has also found that PFAS occur in biotic samples, such as fish and plants. This literature study's primary focus is recent research regarding pollutant sources, sampling strategies, analytic methods for measuring PFAS in water and soil and finally methods for remediating a polluted area. Industrial and consumer products are a pollutant source of PFAS of great public concern. Products like firefighting foams and cosmetic items have been approximated to release hundreds of kilos of PFAS every year. Moreover, chemical, electronic, paper and textile products are vital polluting sources. Landfills and wastewater treatment plants have shown to be significant polluting sources, despite their initial intent of containing and remediating pollution. PFAS is omnipresent in manufacturing plants and widely used in products such as equipment used in sampling.
When sampling water and soil it is of immense importance to avoid the utilization of products and materials containing PFAS, to reduce the risk of cross-contamination and further increase the reliability of the analytic results. Before sampling water or soil, it is important to have a well thought out plan, to minimize cross-contamination. Additionally, it is vital to have a conceptual model encompassing the sites' hydrogeological and hydrological aspects and their protection values.
Chromatographic based analytic methods and broadspectrum analysis are regularly used, in combination or separately, to quantify the amount of PFAS in a sample. Chromatographic based methods are a great instrument to quantify the precise concentration of a few selected PFAS. Swedish laboratories regularly only test for 30-60 PFAS, whereas over 4000 PFAS are currently in use. Broadspectrum analyses are used to quantify the total amount of PFAS in a sample, the downfall of this analytic method is that it doesn't give any specific information regarding its constituent.
Remediating water consisting of high levels of PFAS is commonly conducted using filtration based methods such as granular activated carbon (GAC), ion-exchange resin or membrane filtration. Moreover, surface activated foam fractioning (SAFF) and barrier techniques are feasible remediation methods for water. Filtration based methods are sensitive to the water's chemistry and suspended particles, which could decrease the method's remediation effectiveness. GAC and SAFF are ineffective methods for remediation of short carbon chain PFAS. Currently, there is no optimal method for remediating contaminated soil. However, stabilization and solidification (S/S) and deposition in landfills can be used to prevent the spread of PFAS, but these methods are treatment methods rather than remediation methods. Currently, under development are remediation methods such as ball milling, phytoremediation, soil wash and thermal-based treatments. Pilot studies and small scale experiments have shown that these methods can effectively reduce PFAS in soil, but these methods have not so far been tested in a real scale remediation attempts, some of these methods are also costly, slow and sensitive to the site's geology. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nilsson, Sebastian LU
supervisor
organization
course
GEOL01 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
föroreningskällor, saneringsmetoder, analysmetoder, PFAS, provtagning
publication/series
Examensarbeten i geologi vid Lunds universitet
report number
640
language
Swedish
additional info
Externa handledare: Lina Adeen (Länstyrelssen)
id
9089088
date added to LUP
2022-06-16 13:08:18
date last changed
2022-06-16 13:08:18
@misc{9089088,
  abstract     = {{PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is a large group of pollutants that, over the last decade have been of great academic concern since it has been found all around the globe. PFAS is ubiquitous in our environment and frequently found in low background concentrations in soil and water; recent research has also found that PFAS occur in biotic samples, such as fish and plants. This literature study's primary focus is recent research regarding pollutant sources, sampling strategies, analytic methods for measuring PFAS in water and soil and finally methods for remediating a polluted area. Industrial and consumer products are a pollutant source of PFAS of great public concern. Products like firefighting foams and cosmetic items have been approximated to release hundreds of kilos of PFAS every year. Moreover, chemical, electronic, paper and textile products are vital polluting sources. Landfills and wastewater treatment plants have shown to be significant polluting sources, despite their initial intent of containing and remediating pollution. PFAS is omnipresent in manufacturing plants and widely used in products such as equipment used in sampling. 
When sampling water and soil it is of immense importance to avoid the utilization of products and materials containing PFAS, to reduce the risk of cross-contamination and further increase the reliability of the analytic results. Before sampling water or soil, it is important to have a well thought out plan, to minimize cross-contamination. Additionally, it is vital to have a conceptual model encompassing the sites' hydrogeological and hydrological aspects and their protection values. 
Chromatographic based analytic methods and broadspectrum analysis are regularly used, in combination or separately, to quantify the amount of PFAS in a sample. Chromatographic based methods are a great instrument to quantify the precise concentration of a few selected PFAS. Swedish laboratories regularly only test for 30-60 PFAS, whereas over 4000 PFAS are currently in use. Broadspectrum analyses are used to quantify the total amount of PFAS in a sample, the downfall of this analytic method is that it doesn't give any specific information regarding its constituent.
Remediating water consisting of high levels of PFAS is commonly conducted using filtration based methods such as granular activated carbon (GAC), ion-exchange resin or membrane filtration. Moreover, surface activated foam fractioning (SAFF) and barrier techniques are feasible remediation methods for water. Filtration based methods are sensitive to the water's chemistry and suspended particles, which could decrease the method's remediation effectiveness. GAC and SAFF are ineffective methods for remediation of short carbon chain PFAS. Currently, there is no optimal method for remediating contaminated soil. However, stabilization and solidification (S/S) and deposition in landfills can be used to prevent the spread of PFAS, but these methods are treatment methods rather than remediation methods. Currently, under development are remediation methods such as ball milling, phytoremediation, soil wash and thermal-based treatments. Pilot studies and small scale experiments have shown that these methods can effectively reduce PFAS in soil, but these methods have not so far been tested in a real scale remediation attempts, some of these methods are also costly, slow and sensitive to the site's geology.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Sebastian}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Examensarbeten i geologi vid Lunds universitet}},
  title        = {{PFAS- En sammanfattning av ny forskning, med ett fokus på föroreningskällor, provtagning, analysmetoder och saneringsmetoder}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}