As part of a greater government push for scientific funding of PFAS research, many projects have captured my interest. I’m here to share one of them with you today. Recently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $250K to Dr. Onur Apul, assistant professor of environmental engineering from the University of Maine, to study how to remove PFAS from used GAC filters.
Granular activated carbon (GAC) water filters are one of the most reliable ways to remove PFAS from drinking water sources. I’ve covered this topic in previous blog posts (here’s a recent example). Once GAC filters are spent, they are usually discarded or incinerated. Both disposal options for GAC are detrimental, because they cause environmental pollution. In previous blog posts, we have discussed how PFAS tend to be extremely resistant to breaking down in the environment. Once in a landfill, PFAS will eventually find their way into the environment, contributing to human exposure. Incinerating PFAS will cause it to leak into the air.
Dr. Apul and his team hope to identify factors that lead to PFAS breakdown, which will be useful in mitigating environmental PFAS release from used filters. Additionally, if successful, Dr. Apul’s research on PFAS breakdown could be expanded to other PFAS-laden objects that are commonly discarded in landfills or incinerated, such as food packaging and other consumer waste.
Mitigating the release of environmental PFAS is a crucial step that can immediately lessen the effect of PFAS exposure on human populations. Although research into PFAS may be time-consuming and not conclusive, actions taken to reduce environmental PFAS concentrations is a step in the right direction.
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