The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) is sponsoring a Risk e-Learning webinar series, hosted by CLU-IN, focused on research efforts to develop tools for sampling, monitoring, detecting, and characterizing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.

The three-part series will feature SRP-funded researchers and collaborators whose research focuses, in part, on understanding the distribution and fate of PFAS in the environment.

The final session in this series will include federal and SRP researchers featuring useful resources that can aid in site characterization, such as PFAS reference materials, libraries, and passive samplers.

To learn about and register for the other sessions in this webinar series, please see the SRP website.

Jessica Reiner, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will present on work being done focused on creating reference materials for quality assurance and quality control of measurements pertaining to organic pollutants in environmental and human matrices. NIST reference materials are produced to be homogeneous, stable, and with SI-traceable quantitate values for individual organic compounds. The class of organic contaminants per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) present measurement challenges to the analytical community that potentially affect the accuracy and precision of quantitative measurements. This presentation will discuss the existing reference materials, along with the past and current efforts at NIST to produce new reference materials for PFAS.

Jacqueline Bangma, Ph.D., of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) will speak on the rapid assessment bioaccumulation screening (RABS) for emerging PFAS in mice exposed to industrially impacted surface water. The number of emerging and novel PFAS being identified in environmental samples has increased greatly in the past few decades as manufacturers move away from PFOS and PFOA production. However, all of these emerging PFAS have little to no toxicological information or standards available for purchase with which to complete toxicological studies. Therefore, the first question is how to identify and prioritize emerging PFAS for synthesis and future toxicological characterization. In this seminar, Jackie will provide a look into her research and how it begins to address these questions using non-target analysis techniques, FluoroMatch software, environmental surface water, and animal models.

Jitka Becanova, Ph.D., of the University of Rhode Island will present on her work with passive sampling devices, providing innovative approaches to PFAS Site Characterization. Significant attention and concern have focused on the health and ecological implications of the widespread environmental distribution of compounds categorized as PFAS. Filling knowledge gaps for patterns of PFAS in various environmental compartments, their bioavailability, and bioaccumulation potential, will improve predictability and contribute to minimizing risks of legacy and novel PFAS. Laboratory and field studies to address these gaps can be advanced through the development of rapid and effective methods to assess PFAS concentrations in PFAS hotspots and predict PFAS concentration in the biological tissues. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/PFAS-Characterization-3_110823/