PFAS: Vermont's Soil Background Study & Transformation of Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances in the Environment Webinar

The Webinar included the following presentations:

Dr. Wenyu Zhu, University of Vermont
PFAS Surface Soil Background Study [PDF - note: this file is large (>20MB)] - and link to the report, PFAS Background in Vermont Shallow Soils  [PDF]

Dr. Jennifer Field, Oregon State University
Fate - Biotransformation [PDF] - slides exerpted from an Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) presentation

Dr. Field referenced several articles during Q&A:
- Will Backe’s paper that shows our analysis of 3M AFFF (Table S6) and fluorotelomer AFFF (Table S5).  The fluorotelomer species have only linear chains.
- In the article by Buck on p. 19 , there are branched PFCSs made by a variation of the telomer process. This telomer processes, which results in C9, C11, and C13 PFCAs, may be used in only some applications – for example, I have not seen an AFFF enriched in these odd number long-chain PFCAs.
- For landfill leachate composition, refer to Table 2  in the reference from Allred, B.M., Lang, J.R., Barlaz, M.A., Field, J.A. 2014.  Orthogonal zirconium diol/C18 LC-MS/MS analysis of poly and perfluoroalkyl substances in landfill leachate.  J Chromatography A, 1359, 202-211.  Copyrighted by Elsevier

Wenyu Zhu, Post Doctorial Associate, University of Vermont presented the results of a surface soil background study conducted by the University of Vermont and Sanborn, Head, and Associates, with support from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Surface soil samples were collected from 66 locations across Vermont in the summer of 2018 and analyzed for 17 PFAS compounds. Dr. Zhu will present the project activities and methodologies, the analytical results, and next steps.

Dr. Jennifer Field, Professor, Oregon State University presented on the biological transformation of poly-fluoroalkyl substances in the environment - what we know we know and what we know we don’t know. Dr. Field is an internationally recognized expert and her PFAS research interests are particularly focused on AFFF and on landfill leachate.

For more information, contact Jennifer Griffith at .