Development of novel porous carbon materials for reducing total PFAS emission including cost-benefit analysis and bioavailability of immobilized PFAS to terrestrial organisms

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in both industrial and commercial applications, resulting in their ubiquitous occurrence in the environment. Some PFAS are listed as persistent organic pollutants under Stockholm Convention.

In Sweden, over 2000 confirmed point sources of PFAS in Sweden are connected to firefighting training grounds, airports, industries, waste management facilities and landfills.

In this project, we want to develop new porous carbons (NPCs) from rice husks to reduce the leakage of PFAS from known point sources by either removing them from wastewater or immobilizing them in contaminated soil. This is to avoid PFAS reaching, for example, our drinking water. The removal efficiency of the NPCs will be evaluated by measuring total PFAS rather than measuring a few PFAS.

The proposed project will also support the European Commission´s Drinking Water Directive on limit values for total PFAS and the Swedish National Food Agency´s new regulation on PFAS to remove some very polar PFAS in drinking water.

The availability of PFAS in soil will be investigated by measuring total PFAS in earthworms and vegetables growing in soil treated with NPC. A cost-benefit analysis will be conducted to understand the cost of problem-to-solution.

The results from this project will contribute to fulfilling several of Sweden´s environmental goals (generational goal and environmental quality goal for a non-toxic environment) as well as the UN´s sustainability goals.