PFAS: Per-Fluorinated-Alkyl Substances
Sources, Detection, Toxicity, Removal and Destruction
Article By Rami Elias Kremesti M.Sc., CSci, CEnv, CWEM
Kremesti Environmental Consulting Ltd
Transmutare Substantiarum Basium In Aurum ™
© 2025 – All Rights Reserved
Last updated April 16, 2025
Introduction
PFAS are widely used chemicals which do not biodegrade naturally with time. They consist characteristically of Carbon and Fluorine which together form a very strong bong that enzymes in bacteria in nature cannot metabolise easily. Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS end up in the blood of human beings and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in water and a variety of food and consumer products. Note that Poly-Fluorinated Alkyl Substances are also PFAS but they don’t have all the Carbon atoms fluorinated – this makes them more susceptible to break down.
History and Applications
Historically, they were/are developed/manufactured by US companies such as 3M, Chemours and DuPont which had to pay billions of dollars in damages for environmental cleanup efforts and plaintiffs that suffered health problems because of exposure. TEFLON non-stick coated pans is one type of popular product that uses them. They are also used on pizza boxes/fast food packaging because they are Lipo-Phobic (grease resistant). They were used in some clothing textiles and cleaning formulations too to repel dirt. They are fire resistant too owing to the strength of the C-F bond. This is the reason they are used in Fire Fighting Formulations (FFF). PFAS compounds, known for their lubricating properties, are used in various lubricants, including those found in automotive, semiconductor, and personal care products, but concerns about their persistence and potential health effects are prompting a shift towards PFAS-free alternatives. Several makeup formulations, particularly those marketed as long-lasting or waterproof, may contain PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). These include items like waterproof mascara, liquid lipsticks, foundations, and some eyeshadows. Automotive lubricants, especially those designed for high temperatures or vacuum applications, may contain PFAS, particularly PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, also known as Teflon) or PFPE (perfluorinated poly ether).
Detecting PFAS
Detecting PFAS in water typically involves using sophisticated laboratory techniques like liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), or other methods like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Analytical Instrument suppliers include: companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent, Waters, Sciex, and Conquer Scientific. A simple method to determine whether PFAS have been destroyed is to measure the residual Fluoride ions. Note that COD does not include PFAS because potassium di-chromate cannot break the C-F bond. Veritas Laboratory Services (VLS) is a leading provider of PFAS analysis services in the UK, offering analysis of 49 PFAS in solids, including soils, ash, and sediments. Eurofins Water Hygiene Testing UK also provides PFAS testing, along with other water testing services. RPS Group, a Tetra Tech company, has expertise in PFAS analysis, particularly for regulatory purposes, and is a member of the Environment Agency PFAS laboratory steering group. ALS Laboratories (UK) Ltd. also offers PFAS analysis, with a focus on environmental samples and the 47-PFAS suite required by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Where They Are Found/Sources/Uses
PFAS are found in water, air, fish, animals, and soil across the globe and originate in some man made products. Food packaging – specifically in grease-resistant paper, fast food containers/wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes, and candy wrappers. They are also found in Personal Care Products – in certain shampoos, dental floss, and cosmetics. Also they are also found in some Household products – for example PFAS are used as stain and water-repellent additives in carpets, upholstery, clothing, and other fabrics, cleaning products, non-stick cookware (TEFLON), paints, varnishes, and sealants. PFAS are also used in some Fire Fighting Systems especially foam based ones. PFAs are used in some Medical Implants too. PFAS are excellent Dirt-Repellents and are used in surface treatments. They are also used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. They tend to concentrate in Landfill Leachate too.
Because PFAS cannot be removed by conventional sewage treatment plants (bacteria cannot break them down because the C-F bond is very strong), they end up in our rivers and eventually in our bodies. It has been shown that 99% of people in the USA have traces of PFAS in their blood.
Figure 1: Chemical Structure of Per-Fluorinated Chemical Compounds: PFOS stands for per-fluoro-octane sulfonate
France’s Le Monde has published a map with locations of PFAS contaminated sites in the EU and UK:
Health Effects/Toxicity
Scientific studies have shown that exposure to some PFAS in the environment/food chain may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. There are thousands of PFAS chemicals. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks of all of them. Due to their widespread production and use, as well as their ability to move and persist in the environment, blood surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA show that most people in the United States have been exposed to some PFAS.
Current peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS may lead to several health issues: One of these is reproductive effects such as decreased fertility or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women. A second toxic effect of PFAS is the developmental effects on children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, or behavioural changes. PFAS are also linked to increased risk of some cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers. They may also reduce the ability of the body’s immune system to fight infections and can lead to reduced vaccine response. PFAS may interfere with the body’s natural hormones (i.e. they are endocrine disrupting chemicals). Finally, PFAS are linked to increased cholesterol levels and/or higher risk of obesity. They have been recently found in the breast milk of nursing mothers and in the placenta of pregnant moms.
How to Remove Them from Water/Soil and Destroy Them
How To Remove Them
Without being too technical, there are standardized ways to remove PFAS from Water/Soil. I will focus on three of the most widely used technologies: Active carbon filtration, Foam Fractionation and Reverse Osmosis.
Activated Carbon Filtration is based on a filter which contains a form of black carbon (like charcoal) called granular activated carbon which has a high surface area. It works by adsorbing (sticking) the PFAS on its surface, kind of like a magnet but one based on chemical forces.
Reverse Osmosis technology also works to remove/concentrate PFAS from water. It is a technology based on a membrane with tiny pores in it that filter out the PFAS molecules. The PFAS are concentrated in the reject stream. RO does not destroy PFAS.
Foam Fractionation has emerged as a viable method for removing and concentrating PFAS from aqueous matrices. The method exploits the surface-active (Surfactant) nature of the PFAS to adsorb at the air-liquid interfaces of rising air bubbles, resulting in foam formation at the top of a foam fractionator. The foam is removed as a hazardous waste and treated with technologies that destroy PFAS.
How To Destroy Them
Once the PFAS are filtered out they need to be destroyed and for this you need strong chemicals like activated Ozone/Hydroxy radicals or extremely high heat/oxidizing conditions, to zap them out. Note: when you read about technologies that “degrade” PFAS know that they are being broken down into smaller molecules not destroyed. Destruction of PFAS means destruction of the C-F bond.
“Degrading PFAS is not the same as destroying them.”
Catalysts are one recent innovation in the research on PFAS destruction. Common catalysts include metal oxides like titanium dioxide (TiO2), gallium oxide (Ga2O3), and zinc oxide (ZnO), which are often used in photocatalytic processes where UV light activates the catalyst to break down PFAS molecules through oxidation reactions; other promising catalysts include iron-based catalysts and modified silicon carbide (SiC) materials with single-atom platinum catalysts for enhanced carbon-fluorine bond cleavage under UV light.
An emerging technology for PFAS removal is E-AOP, Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes (EAOP). Boron Doped Diamond (BDD) electrodes create .OH Hydroxyl radicals on the Anode which attack and oxidize/degrade PFAS. A commercial version of this is ZEO = Zimpro Electro Oxidation which uses BDD (Boron Doped Diamond) electrodes. Arvia Technology has the Nyex/Florenox technology which destroys PFAS.
PFAS destruction can also be done through incineration or high temperature oxidation. Wet Air Oxidation or WAO and Zimmpro are such processes. Lummus Technology has the patent on it. Siemens have also installed Zimmpro reactors. It was developed for treating high COD waste waters for the oil and gas industry and used also for Pharma waste water.
Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) create aggressive radicals that are capable of attacking most organic compounds, including PFAS, leading to their degradation. AOP technologies combine various methods such as UV light, hydrogen peroxide, and sometimes catalysts to enhance the degradation process. The end products are CO2 and Fluoride ions.
Researchers have identified new bacterial strains, like Labrys portucalensis F11, that can break down “forever chemicals” (PFAS) by cleaving the strong carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds (a process termed Defluoridation), even removing fluorine from the resulting metabolites. Labrys portucalensis F11, can not only degrade PFAS but also remove fluorine from the resulting metabolites. Another study identified Acidimicrobium sp. strain A6, which can break down and defluorinate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
Recently I googled one of my favorite organic chemistry lab crazy solutions: the Piranha Solution made by mixing 3 parts concentrated sulphuric acid with 1 part concentrated hydrogen peroxide. It is an aggressive solution that is used to clean caked up lab glassware. In the Piranha reaction, mixing hydrogen peroxide with sulfuric acid, Caro’s acid is formed, which is unstable and directly decomposes to form hydroxyl radicals. The oxidizing power of Piranha comes from the formation of molecular hydroxyl radicals by the decomposition of either Caro’s acid or hydrogen peroxide. Although PVDF is inert, the presence of radicals and the strong oxidizing agent is expected to break the C
F bond and produce a COH bond – Reference: European Polymer Journal, Volume 96, November 2017, Pages 414-428. Functional groups docking on PVDF membranes: Novel Piranha approach.
Caro’s Acid or Peroxy-Mono-Sulphuric Acid
This led me to discover another chemical way to break the C-F bond: A new method using DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) and NaOH (sodium hydroxide) with heat has been developed to break down PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), often called “forever chemicals”. These chemicals are difficult to break down due to their strong carbon-fluorine bonds. The DMSO and NaOH, in the presence of heat, can break down PFAS by decapitating the “head” of the molecule, leaving behind harmless fluoride.
Reference: https://www.nsf.gov/news/forever-chemicals-destroyed-simple-method
Commercial Cost of PFAs Removal
The commercial cost of removing and destroying PFAS from the environment is estimated to be extremely high, potentially exceeding trillions of dollars annually on a global scale, with the UK facing potential annual cleanup costs of £9.9 billion if emissions remain uncontrolled.
Consultancies Working on Solving the PFAS Problem
Several consultancies offer expertise in addressing PFAS challenges, including Yordas Group, Arcadis, Atkins Réalis, SLR Consulting, AECOM, Exponent, and WSP. These firms provide services ranging from PFAS identification and testing to remediation and regulatory guidance.
Legislation/Directives/Conventions
The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty that aims to protect the environment and human health from the effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which includes PFAS. It has been in force since 2004 and is undersigned by 152 countries of the world including the UK. The convention requires parties to adopt a range of control measures to reduce and, where feasible, eliminate the release/manufacture/use of POPs like PFAS in various products.
There is also the EU Drinking Water and Groundwater Directives which are intended to protect European waters from harmful pollutants by setting limit values for PFAS under the Groundwater Directive, the Environmental Quality Standards Directive and the Food Contaminants Regulation. These directives also address emissions and reporting of PFAS under the Industrial Emissions Directive and the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.
The UK DWI guidance follows a tiered approach to PFAS regulation for drinking water with a guideline value of 0.1 micrograms per litre for the sum of 48 named PFAS, which is equivalent to 0.1 parts per billion.
In 2021, the UK, Welsh and Scottish Governments tasked the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Environment Agency to perform a regulatory management options analysis (RMOA) on PFAS to assess how to best manage any identified risks related to PFAS. There is also the cost for treating PFAS which should be spread out based on the precept of Polluter Pays.
What Can We Do About PFAS?
As scientists and engineers we need to detect them and remove them from the environment for example in the sludges of waste water treatment works which affects their usability as field fertilizers. We also need to find green chemistry alternatives to PFAS.
As consumers, we need to raise awareness about this topic and lobby our government representatives to legislate laws that will lead to their removal from commercial products/supply chain. We can also boycott products that contain them. This way business leaders will be forced to abandon them. So next time you go to buy dental floss, ask your pharmacist: does it contain PFAS? Or when you order a pizza delivery, inquire if the box has PFAS in it… Technologies are being developed to replace PFAS in the various production processes. PFAS-Free sportswear/packaging are available in Germany and Belgium.
Finally I hope you have found this article useful. Feel free to follow the links below for more information.
Biography of the Author:
Rami Elias Kremesti is a chartered water and wastewater treatment specialist with a background in chemistry. He has worked on a myriad of water treatment and power station projects internationally. He is a British Citizen based out of High Wycombe, UK. He has published three books on philosophical topics which he loves to ponder in his spare time.
Rami Elias Kremesti Portrait
References/Further Reading:
https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained
https://www.veoliawatertech.com/en/expertise/applications/pfas-removal
https://www.pfasfree.org.uk/regulations
PFAS – Chemicals – Environment – European Commission (europa.eu)
PFAS: The secret toxins in your body – YouTube
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2023). Our Current Understanding of the Human Health and Environmental Risks of PFAS. Retrieved from
WHO. (2023, November 29). Water Sanitation and Health: PFOS and PFOA in Drinking-water: Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. Retrieved from World Health Organization:
https://pfascentral.org/about/
https://www.science.org/content/article/light-powered-catalysts-destroy-forever-chemicals