This is an Overview: Section 1: One of eight sections prepared by National Ground Water Association volunteers. Each section was prepared to stand independently, or to be integrated with the other seven sections.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a unique class of emerging drinking water contaminants that have shown widespread occurrence in groundwater and surface-water resources, and due to their toxicological characteristics are increasingly the focus of environmental protection agencies worldwide. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently set drinking water health advisories for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) at 0.07 micrograms per liter (μg/L). These new parts-per-trillion (ppt) health advisory levels are orders-of-magnitude lower than regulatory levels for most groundwater contaminants and were practically unheard of during conventional hydrogeologic investigations and remediation programs performed since the 1980s. Moreover, PFAS
include thousands of individual chemical compounds, each with at least one carbon-fluorine (C-F) bond and most of which are soluble in groundwater. The C-F bond has been called the strongest atomic bond in nature and imparts unique characteristics to PFAS that make them useful to society in a wide variety of applications. But the unique C-F chemistry of PFAS also creates significant challenges in water treatment and remediation.
Additionally, the fate, transport, and chemical transformations of most PFAS in the environment are still unknown and areas of active scientific research. The combination of these factors creates a need for a technical guidance document.
Original URL: https://www.ngwa.org/pubs/Documents/bookstore/pfas-doc-section1-overview.pdf
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