What are PFOA/PFOS and How to Remove PFOA/PFOS?
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), often known as perfluorinated compounds, are a class of chemicals that include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (PFCs). Up until the year 2000, PFOA and PFOS were widely employed in the production of a wide range of industrial and consumer goods, including paper and cardboard food packaging, pesticides, electronics, paints, plumbing tape, firefighting foam, and non-stick cooking surfaces.
Large amounts of PFOA and PFOS were leaked into the environment during manufacturing operations before they were phased out of production globally, and they are currently discovered in drinking water sources close to current or past manufacturing locations as well as use areas like airports. .
How does PFOA/PFOS get into drinking water?
Fire foams used in fire training and response areas, industrial and manufacturing locations, landfills, and wastewater treatment facilities are the four main sources of PFOA/PFOS. When PFOA/PFOS containing items are used, spilled on the ground, or end up in lakes and rivers, they can end up in drinking water. Once in groundwater, PFOA/PFOS can quickly spread over a wide area and harm drinking water and soil. PFOA/PFOS can also be released into the air, which then finds its way into drinking-water-producing rivers and lakes.
Potential PFOA and PFOS Health Effects
Health impacts from exposure to dangerous levels of PFOA/PFOS concentrations through drinking water include effects on fetuses’ development during pregnancy, cancer, effects on the liver, effects on the immune system, and effects on the thyroid.
For both PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a lifetime exposure health advice at 70 parts per trillion (ppt). This EPA health recommendation level was created to give all Americans, including those with impaired immune systems or members of particular communities, a margin of safety (elderly, children). 1 Limits for public drinking water have also been reviewed in Europe and other areas.
PFOA/PFOS in Drinking Water: Reduction Techniques
How to remove PFOA/PFOS from drinking water?
According to EPA studies, the majority of traditional chemical and microbiological filtration methods are ineffective at filtering PFOA and PFOS. However, the following three methods have been demonstrated to be successful in removing PFOA and PFOS from drinking water.
However, the most emerging technology for the removal of PFOA/PFOS is Watch Water’s adsorption treatment technology Catalytic Carbon MG, which is Zero Valent Iron (ZVI) activated carbon with an MGO surface. This means Catalytic Carbon MG is the only granule-based material available in the market with a highly positive surface, which is very important to break down a long chain of perfluorinated compounds. It offers for direct degradation of Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and removal of PFOA equal to 95%.
You may refer to the following link for detailed information on this amazing and life-saving technology.
Drinking Water Treatment