Grantee Research Project Results
2023 Progress Report: Occurrence, fate, transport, and treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in landfill leachate
EPA Grant Number: R839670Title: Occurrence, fate, transport, and treatment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in landfill leachate
Investigators: Guelfo, Jennifer
Institution: Texas Tech University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2019 through July 31, 2022 (Extended to July 31, 2024)
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2022 through July 31,2023
Project Amount: $500,000
RFA: Practical Methods to Analyze and Treat Emerging Contaminants (PFAS) in Solid Waste, Landfills, Wastewater/Leachates, Soils, and Groundwater to Protect Human Health and the Environment (2018) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Drinking Water , Water Quality , Human Health , PFAS Treatment , Water
Objective:
An estimated 61.1 million m3yr-1 of leachate is generated in the United States. Studies suggest that most leachates contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that may pose a risk to human health and/or the environment following release of raw or treated leachate. This project has three primary objectives: 1) optimize strategies for analysis of total PFAS composition and concentrations in field-collected landfill leachate using a combination of analytical techniques; 2) assess sorption, desorption, and diffusion of a select set of PFAS in representative flexible membrane and clay liner materials and evaluate impacts of solution chemistry on these processes; and 3) evaluate the impacts of leachate conditions on the rate and efficacy of total PFAS degradation using ultrasound treatment and determine optimal reactor configuration and operational parameters based on landfill conditions and treatment goals.
Progress Summary:
In Year 4 of the project, the project team achieved the following:
• Completed efforts to analyze total organic fluorine (TOF) in leachate using combustion ion chromatography (CIC)
• Continued side-by-side diffusion cell experiments evaluating the diffusion of PFAS in a field collected leachate through geomembrane and clay liner materials
• Continued the evaluation of sorption of PFAS to clay liner materials
• Evaluated effective diffusion coefficients of PFAS through clay liner materials (monitoring of geomembrane diffusion experiments is ongoing)
• Completed experiments evaluating use of sonolysis for treatment of landfill leachate and demonstrated it was ineffective.
Future Activities:
The following activities are planned for Year 4 of the project:
• Continue monitoring diffusion cells with geomembrane materials
• Finalize analysis diffusion cell with bentonite plus fluorosorb
• Model PFAS transport through multi-layer landfill liner systems
• Prepared data for publication and final report
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 9 publications | 3 publications in selected types | All 3 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Shojaei M, Kumar N, Guelfo J. An integrated approach for determination of total per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Environmental Science & Technology 2022;56(20):14517-14527. |
R839670 (2021) R839670 (2022) R839670 (2023) |
Exit Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
PFAS, solid waste, leachate, landfills, sorptionProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.