PFAS Pollution

Cleantech Group looks at innovators in the textile and agriculture sectors for alternatives to PFAS in water, soil, & air

“PFAS exposure occurs most frequently through contamination of water or air. For goods like textiles, water or stain-repellant PFAS coatings can be washed away over time into water streams. Farmers use PFAS in pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to increase nutrient penetration or longevity. Applied PFAS then wash into soil and waterways.” -- Parker Bovee, Associate in Waste & Recyling with Cleantech Group

 Responses provided to WATERTODAY by Parker Bovee

By Suzanne Forcese

WT: What are PFAS?

Bovee: PFAS is an abbreviation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are man-made chemicals widely used in packaging, cookware, fabrics, cosmetics, electronics, and medical equipment since the 1950s. The class contains more than 12,000 chemicals, prized for their ability to repel water, grease, and stains. PFAS’ chemical structure is incredibly strong and resistant to degradation. It therefore degrades slowly and builds up in water, soil, air, and organisms after each exposure.

Humans and animals are exposed to these chemicals through contaminated water, food, and air, often with higher rates of exposure near manufacturing centers. Proliferation of these chemicals is so ubiquitous that they have leached into soil. While rural areas suffer lower exposure, concern is mounting over contamination of food supplies.

WT: What are the consequences of human exposure and how large is the scope of this issue?

Bovee: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 97% of Americans have PFAs in their blood stream. Fears here are nuanced as the science of PFAS is emerging. Not all PFAs are toxic, and many are currently difficult to identify in laboratory settings. The key focus of discussion on PFAS contamination sources has been tap water.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that a minimum of 45% of American tap water is contaminated with PFAS. Key geographical concerns include Los Angeles, Denver, Atlanta, and the Washington D.C.-Boston corridor.

As reported in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and from the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS have now been concretely linked to reproductive effects (decreased fertility, pregnancy complications), developmental issues in children (low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone issues, behavioral conditions), increased cancer risk (prostate, kidney, testicular) poor immune/vaccine response, hormonal disruption, and increased cholesterol.

WT: How do PFAS make their way into water and soil?

Bovee: PFAS exposure occurs most frequently through contamination of water or air. For goods like textiles, water or stain-repellant PFAS coatings can be washed away over time into water streams.

Farmers use PFAS in pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to increase nutrient penetration or longevity. Applied PFAS then wash into soil and waterways.

PFAS are remarkably resistant to environmental degradation as well, making large-scale soil or some water remediation nearly impossible.

WT: Are you seeing innovators with technologies to remove PFA from the textile and agriculture sectors?

Bovee: PFAS are incorporated in textile finishing through liquid dips to apply a coating of waterproof chemicals evenly across fibers. Another method to introduce water-repellent PFAS is through weaving a PFAS-containing polymer into the textile.

Start-ups are pursuing alternatives in both categories. Alternatives to PFAS treatment dips include silicon coatings and dendrimers, an innovative method to reduce water absorption through texturing a fabric’s outermost layer. Novel materials have also been critically important. Chemically modified polyester can express hydrophobic qualities, making it a good weaving replacement for various PFAS choices. Similar bioengineering is being applied to a range of plant-based or recycled materials, adding an element of circularity to the PFAS replacement conversation.

WT: Can you give us some examples of start-ups that are changing the landscape?

Bovee: Some interesting companies innovating in alternative PFAS include:

• Green Theme Technologies: Developing waterless chemical weaving technologies to alter textile material’s chemical structure, promoting increased hydrophobicity
• OrganoClick: Gene-edited cellulose with improved waterproofing and flame-retardant characteristics
• HeiQ: Materials innovation company manufacturing textiles with raised textures to reduce water contact on textiles

WT: Who is working on agriculture?

Bovee: PFAS found a fit in agriculture primarily through their useful improvements to compound stability and efficiency in pesticides and fungicides. PFAS resistance to natural degradation from sunlight or water made these products more efficient but contaminated soils. Fertilizers containing PFAS are made from PFAS-containing waste. Reducing PFAS in these fertilizers is more straightforward than the two-fold issue of eliminating PFAS in soil as well as herbicides/fungicides.

Innovators are developing biodegradable alternatives to eliminate PFAS from herbicides and fungicides. Companies are resequencing RNA in active ingredients in fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides to improve environmental stability and penetration into soil/plants. Some start-ups are also migrating traditional water treatment technologies to focus on sludges, a key component of some fertilizing treatments.

Some companies to note here include:

• Revive Environmental: Uses supercritical water oxidation to deconstruct short- and long-chain PFAS in sludge and other waste streams
• AgroSpheres: Manufactures biodegradable, non-PFAS fertilizer, insecticide, and fungicide through gene-editing tools

WT: Are Governments involved in mitigating PFAS pollution?

Bovee: Governments around the world remain slow moving on PFAS issues. The U.S. emerged as a leader recently with EPA-mandated PFAS use reporting from corporations, standardization of measurement systems, and $2B in grants for testing and removal. States have varied in their interest in pursuing regulations with California and Minnesota as two standouts. Europe and Asia have been far slower to adopt strict bans with China and Japan standing out as two of the only countries to enact full bans on over 100 PFAS.

WT: Have there been any legal rulings?

Bovee: Recent legal rulings found 3M liable for $10.3B in damages over their contamination of drinking water systems with PFAS. DuPont de Nemours Inc. and spinoffs Chemours Co. and Corteva Inc. reached a similar $1.18B settlement in June 2023.

WT: Are you seeing any corporates making a difference?

Bovee:

• DuPont: Progressively eliminated PFAS from their foams and operations while granting royalty-free licensing on PFAS membrane filtration technologies
  
  
  
• Xylem: Provides public water projects with PFAS removal ion exchange and oxidation technologies, testing equipment, and carbon filtration systems
  
  
  
• Evoqua: Provides public municipalities EPA-approved PFAS treatment systems utilizing adsorption technologies

WT: What is the outlook?

Bovee: The outlook on textile sustainability is improving year-on-year. Regarding PFAS reduction, textiles and flame-retardant chemicals are the two highest priority targets due to the scale of textile waste and the high PFAS content of flame retardants. Textiles have drawn high corporate participation with companies like Patagonia, Nike, REI, GAP, and Victoria’s Secret all phasing PFAS out of supply chains.

The outlook for agricultural products is very bleak. AgroSpheres remains one of the few companies operating in the pesticide/fungicide PFAS reduction space. Rural communities tend to have lower PFAS contamination generally, so this could explain the lack of activity. AgroSpheres recently won a grant from the EPA, signaling government interest in the issue.

Fertilizer decontamination will likely be addressed over time with the increased adoption of PFAS wastewater treatment technologies.

As the PFAS issue evolves, other sectors requiring intervention include cleaning products, munitions, and electronics.

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