Developing an Approach to Groundwater Detailed Quantitative Risk Assessment for PFAS

This project will commission a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of published literature to identify evidence-backed robust physio-chemical data sources for 20 per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that could be used as inputs into a groundwater detailed quantitative risk assessment (DQRA) modelling software (e.g. ConSim and RTM). PFAS are a broad group of synthetic fluorinated chemicals which are persistent in the environment.

Some are bio-accumulative and toxic, and/or highly mobile. PFAS are used in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial applications because of their unique chemical and physical properties, including oil, water and stain repellence, temperature and chemical resistance, and surfactant properties.

Due to their widespread historical and current use, PFAS are prevalent within the water environment because of the direct and indirect pathways into groundwater and surface water from various applications and activities. The need for a consistent approach to assessing the risk of PFAS compounds to groundwater receptors is growing substantially due to increasing year on year attention to PFAS as an emerging contaminant, from the public, media, regulators, and industry.

It is becoming more vital that we, as regulators, and industry, are able to understand the risks associated with PFAS, and can provide robust and consistent regulation in this emerging field. Alongside the REA, there is a requirement to produce a summary table of the required physio-chemical parameters, the data sources, and the justification for the inclusion of the data for the 20 PFAS. This REA and data summary table will be used to develop guidance on how to undertake a DQRA for PFAS contaminated groundwater.