ECS blog by Scott Werley, PG, Southeast Environmental Principal
PFAS Chemicals and Firefighting Foams: What You Need to Know
Explore how PFAS are a major concern in fire suppression efforts for their inclusion in firefighting foams.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used, long-lasting chemicals often found in water, air and soil and have even been discovered in our food supply, drinking water and many consumer products. Because of their widespread use in manufacturing, a comprehensive PFAS assessment and monitoring program can help identify their presence and limit the human-health and environmental risks of exposure.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used, long-lasting chemicals often found in water, air and soil and have even been discovered in our food supply, drinking water and many consumer products. Because of their widespread use in manufacturing, a comprehensive PFAS assessment and monitoring program can help identify their presence and limit the human-health and environmental risks of exposure.
ECS’ industry expertise qualifies us to provide PFAS assessment and monitoring consulting services that support clients addressing due-diligence challenges in this rapidly changing and emerging contaminant environment. We stay current on updates by participating as an Industry Affiliate Partner with the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC).
The ECS staff includes engineers, geologists, environmental scientists and technicians with decades of cumulative experience in environmental site assessment. We deploy experienced PFAS site practitioners to our projects for the following services:
Property and facility owners/authorities and builders must be aware of the potential presence of PFAS. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated two PFAS compounds known as PFOA and PFOS as well as their salts and structural isomers to be hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), i.e. Superfund. This designation requires releases of PFAS to be reported and holds PFAS polluters accountable for corrective action.
Superfund prioritizes enforcement at sites presenting unreasonable risk to human health and the environment and is accompanied by a PFAS-enforcement discretion policy. The discretion prioritizes enforcement on significant contributors without intent to enforce certain parties such as farmers, municipal landfills, municipal airports and water utilities.
The EPA also finalized a national drinking water maximum contaminant level (MCL) of four parts per trillion (4 ppt) for PFOS and PFOA. The finalized MCL includes a hazard-index calculation that sums four additional PFAS compounds including PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and HFPO-DA, also known as GenX.
Compliance with the hazard index MCL is set by a running annual average. If the calculated running annual average Hazard Index of two or more of the four compounds is greater than one ppt, it would constitute a violation of the Hazard Index MCL. Public-operated treatment works have three years to conduct initial PFAS monitoring and five overall years to comply with the PFAS MCLs in their drinking water.
ECS’ industry expertise qualifies us to provide PFAS assessment and monitoring consulting services that support clients addressing due-diligence challenges in this rapidly changing and emerging contaminant environment. We stay current on updates by participating as an Industry Affiliate Partner with the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC).
The ECS staff includes engineers, geologists, environmental scientists and technicians with decades of cumulative experience in environmental site assessment. We deploy experienced PFAS site practitioners to our projects for the following services:
Property and facility owners/authorities and builders must be aware of the potential presence of PFAS. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated two PFAS compounds known as PFOA and PFOS as well as their salts and structural isomers to be hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), i.e. Superfund. This designation requires releases of PFAS to be reported and holds PFAS polluters accountable for corrective action.
Superfund prioritizes enforcement at sites presenting unreasonable risk to human health and the environment and is accompanied by a PFAS-enforcement discretion policy. The discretion prioritizes enforcement on significant contributors without intent to enforce certain parties such as farmers, municipal landfills, municipal airports and water utilities.
The EPA also finalized a national drinking water maximum contaminant level (MCL) of four parts per trillion (4 ppt) for PFOS and PFOA. The finalized MCL includes a hazard-index calculation that sums four additional PFAS compounds including PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and HFPO-DA, also known as GenX.
Compliance with the hazard index MCL is set by a running annual average. If the calculated running annual average Hazard Index of two or more of the four compounds is greater than one ppt, it would constitute a violation of the Hazard Index MCL. Public-operated treatment works have three years to conduct initial PFAS monitoring and five overall years to comply with the PFAS MCLs in their drinking water.
Explore how PFAS are a major concern in fire suppression efforts for their inclusion in firefighting foams.
Explore how PFAS are a major concern in fire suppression efforts for their inclusion in firefighting foams.
Learn about the PFAS in the environment, its presence in many everyday consumer products and how to limit you exposure.
Learn about the PFAS in the environment, its presence in many everyday consumer products and how to limit you exposure.