EPA awards AAPlasma Phase II grant to enhance/regenerate water filters from PFAS
“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals. PFAS have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries around the globe, including in the United States since the 1940s. PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals. Both chemicals are very persistent in the environment and in the human body – meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects.”
NSF lists a number of ways to remove PFAS from drinking water and it appears that all of them are a form of filtration—trapping PFAS on an absorber (source: NSF). It appears that activated carbon is one of the more popular absorbers, used in the industry (source: Jacobi and Calgon).
Filtration seems to work. Are we safe then? We at AAPlasma don’t think so. Water filter recycling seems to not be a viable option (source: BOS, Recycle Nation, thehomeHardware). Thus, we are focused on “Plasma-Enhancement of Absorbers for Improved Removal of PFOS and PFOA from Water” in our Phase II project, funded by the EPA (source: FPDS).
Based on the successful lab-scale demonstrations in Phase I, and now partnering with water filtration companies, AAPlasma plans to develop a prototype system for treatment of spent filter material on the scale of interest to water utility companies and water filtration industry.