Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sewage sludge and wastewater-based fertilizers and future PFAS remediation
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic synthetic products, in which the hydrogen atoms on the carbon skeleton of at least one carbon atom have been completely replaced by fluorine atoms and which include more than 4730 compounds, depending on the definition. As a result of continuous and prolific use, mainly in aviation firefighting foams, thousands of industrial and military installations have been found to contain contaminated soil, groundwater and surface water. As a result of the perpetual use of PFAS containing products, effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been observed to be an important pathway for PFAS into the environment. In Germany, phosphorus and other nutrients from sewage sludge and wastewater should be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a large population. However, it is not clear if PFAS contamination from wastewater and sewage sludge end up in novel wastewater-based fertilizers.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anionic, cationic and zwitterionic synthetic products, in which the hydrogen atoms on the carbon skeleton of at least one carbon atom have been completely replaced by fluorine atoms and which include more than 4730 compounds, depending on the definition. As a result of continuous and prolific use, mainly in aviation firefighting foams, thousands of industrial and military installations have been found to contain contaminated soil, groundwater and surface water. As a result of the perpetual use of PFAS containing products, effluents and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been observed to be an important pathway for PFAS into the environment. In Germany, phosphorus and other nutrients from sewage sludge and wastewater should be recycled in WWTPs of cities with a large population. However, it is not clear if PFAS contamination from wastewater and sewage sludge end up in novel wastewater-based fertilizers. Normally, PFAS are analyzed using PFAS protocols typically with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) quantification. To get a better overview of the amount of “total PFAS,” we applied sum parameter methods based on combustion ion chromatography (CIC) to screen the PFAS contaminations in various sewage sludge and wastewater-based fertilizers. Furthermore, current decontamination strategies of PFAS-burdened soils mainly consist of adsorption methods using adsorbents for fixation of PFAS in the ground. A second option is the utilization of a “pump and treat” process, cycling polluted soils through a washing plant leading to the concentration of the pollutants in the fine fraction. Only a subsequent, high-energy consuming pyrolysis process guarantees the total destruction of all fluorinated organic contaminants. Both approaches are cost-intensive and not intended for the direct decomposition of all PFAS contaminants. Hence, there is a great demand for innovative developments and chemical treatment technologies, dealing with new strategies of tackling the PFAS problem.…
Autor*innen: | Christian VogelORCiD |
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Weitere Person: | Philipp Wittwer, Philipp RoeschORCiD, Franz-Georg SimonORCiD |
Dokumenttyp: | Vortrag |
Veröffentlichungsform: | Präsentation |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2022 |
Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 4 Material und Umwelt |
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.3 Schadstofftransfer und Umwelttechnologien | |
DDC-Klassifikation: | Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / Chemie / Analytische Chemie |
Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik | |
Freie Schlagwörter: | PFAS; Sewage sludge; XANES spectroscopy |
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Chemie und Prozesstechnik |
Umwelt | |
Veranstaltung: | Seminar of Ben-Gurion University |
Veranstaltungsort: | Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel |
Beginndatum der Veranstaltung: | 02.11.2022 |
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 07.11.2022 |
Referierte Publikation: | Nein |
Eingeladener Vortrag: | Nein |