13 Dec PFAS Chat Now Available Online – Intro to PFAS
The fourth and final PFAS Community Chat of 2024 – Intro to PFAS for UNC-Chapel Hill Students – was held at UNC’s Campus Y Faculty Lounge on November 21 and focused on PFAS exposure pathways. The event featured expert panelists on PFAS in air, environment, and drinking water resources and treatment, and offered an overview of PFAS and an opportunity for students to get their questions answered. A recording of the event is now available on our YouTube channel.
Panelists:
- Dr. Erin Baker, Associate Professor, UNC Department of Chemistry
- Allison Spinelli, Director of Water Resources, OWASA
- Dr. Jason Surratt, Professor, UNC departments of Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Chemistry
Summary:
This PFAS Community Chat provided an overview of PFAS exposure pathways for UNC-Chapel Hill students and OWASA’s plans to treat PFAS in our drinking water. Dr. Surratt, whose research focuses on which PFAS compounds contribute to air pollution and how they enter the atmosphere, was asked about what he has learned so far through his research. He shared that his research is working to develop new methods to identify PFAS compounds in the air in real time, instead of collecting samples from air filters, for example, and then testing for PFAS compounds. The goal is to eventually use these real time methods to measure air emissions from known PFAS polluters.
Ms. Spinelli, OWASA’s Director of Water Resources, has been with OWASA since the beginning of our PFAS journey and discussed OWASA’s pilot testing several PFAS removal technologies to determine which will be most effective at removing PFAS from our drinking water. The process to design OWASA’s new PFAS treatment facility began with PFAS monitoring in 2018. After enough data was collected, we engaged a consultant who helped us review available research and studies on treatment techniques that could fit our PFAS removal needs. After several smaller scale studies and test, we eventually decided to transition to a pilot testing phase of two well-known PFAS treatment technologies – Ion Exchange and Granular Activated Carbon. OWASA is currently halfway through the pilot project, with about six more months to go. The pilot includes analysis of how effective treatment is at removing various compounds through all seasons.
Dr. Surratt was asked how his research on PFAS in the air helps us understand PFAS in the environment and if PFAS in the air is a significant exposure pathway for humans, and why it’s important to understand PFAS in the air. A portion of Dr. Surratt’s research focuses on air inside the home, and how it is affected by products you bring into your home. Additionally, he mentions that in areas not affected by water that contains PFAS compounds, inhalation exposure is more important and has more effects on human health. He shared that PFAS are not very reactive and can travel very long distances when airborne. The majority of PFAS air emissions come from industrialized nations, such as the United States, Europe, and Asia, and will eventually end up in the polar regions where they settle into the snowpack.
Dr. Surratt also emphasized that PFAS in the air and subsequent inhalation is a neglected area of research in the PFAS field, and that it is important to understand the total risk of PFAS on human and environmental health, and the lifecycle of PFAS contamination in the environment. Dr. Surratt is hopeful that his research, and research like it, will help inform future regulations on PFAS in the air.
Dr. Baker’s research focuses on developing methods to identify unknown PFAS compounds in the environment and how we are exposed to these compounds. Dr. Baker was asked what concerns she held in detecting PFAS in the environment as new PFAS compounds become available due to industry and manufacturing needs, and as more PFAS compounds become regulated. Dr. Baker said that just because levels of legacy PFAS compounds, such as PFOS and PFOA, are decreasing in blood samples, does not mean newer, unregulated compounds are dropping as well. The research is actually showing that levels of emerging PFAS in blood are increasing.
Ms. Spinelli was asked what the implications are of the ubiquitousness of PFAS on treating OWASA’s drinking water, and do we expect to find more PFAS compounds in our raw water sources. Ms. Spinelli answered this question by stating that much of the PFAS we see in our raw water, specifically at Cane Creek Reservoir, is the result of legacy biosolids application in the Cane Creek watershed that halted prior to 2020. Since the application of these biosolids stopped, we have not seen much change in the concentration of PFAS in the water at Cane Creek. She emphasized that we will be monitoring for and treating PFAS for the foreseeable future.