Current Projects
PFAS Leaching from Concrete Paved Surfaces (Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program):
From the 1950s to 2010s, aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) containing PFAS were extensively used at military installations, airports, and fire-fighting training facilities. As the investigation into the fate and transport of PFAS broadens, we are examining a less explored avenue of PFAS release into the environment – contaminated pavement materials. Ongoing work characterizing the PFAS leaching behavior from field-collected and laboratory-simulated pavement materials will inform future risk assessments, management, and potential reuse scenarios for these impacted materials.
Thermal Treatment of PFAS Contaminated Materials (Florida Department of Environmental Protection):
PFAS impacted sites such as fire training facilities, military installations, and airports are faced with the challenge of disposing bulk quantities of contaminated soil, but the chemical and thermal stability of PFAS leaves questions regarding the treatment feasibility of PFAS within traditional incineration technologies. A “mass-balance” accounting for volatile products of incomplete combustion (PICs) has yet to be addressed regarding PFAS decomposition in thermal treatment processes; contaminated soils from across the state are being treated in a lab-scale system with full emissions characterization to address this gap and inform future materials management.
PFAS Fate in Impacted Asphalt Pavement Recycling (National Asphalt Pavement Association):
Asphalt pavement remains among the most heavily recycled materials in the US. Emerging concerns associated with PFAS contamination to asphalt pavements exposed to firefighting foams at military installations, airports, and fire-training facilities has raised questions regarding the fate of PFAS within common asphalt recycling practices. Utilizing field-collected and laboratory-generated pavements, we are working to examine PFAS leachability, volatility, and behavior through the various lifecycle stages of recycled asphalt pavements.
Evaluating Solidification and Stabilization Technologies for PFAS-impacted Wastes (US Environmental Protection Agency):
As state and federal guidelines/regulations evolve for PFAS management, concerns have emerged regarding the safe disposal of PFAS-concentrated waste streams like aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs), electroplating sludge, or contaminated wastewaters. While some of these waste streams are already managed as hazardous wastes due to concentrations of heavy metals, available technologies for stabilization/solidification of hazardous wastes have not been evaluated for their efficacy in PFAS encapsulation. To understand current PFAS management at hazardous waste landfills and inform the safe disposal of PFAS-concentrated waste streams in the future, the leachability and volatility of PFAS through stabilization/solidification technologies is being examined.
Simulating PFAS Fate and Behavior through Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Reactors:
In the landfill environment, PFAS from consumer wastes can migrate into landfill byproducts, leachate and gas, posing management challenges to operators. With waste decomposition, PFAS profiles and concentrations in leachate and gas may change, but the extent, relationships, and long-term trends within/between gas versus leachate byproducts is not well understood – impacting effective management of these chemicals at landfills. The fate and behavior of PFAS within landfill environments is being studied through simulated landfill reactors, monitoring PFAS releases to gas and leachate over time, to reveal PFAS behavior and inform future management efforts.