WEAVER LABS LLC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: R

Description

Perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), nicknamed “Forever Chemicals”, are extensively used in industries and firefighting applications as a component of aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs). Because members of this class of chemicals are persistent, they are prevalent in nature and are detected across the globe in water, air, soil, plants, animals, and even in human milk and blood. They are toxic to human health, and even at lower levels are linked to developmental effects in infants, liver toxicity, increased risk of certain types of cancer, immune system impacts, thyroid disease, and many other health issues. Therefore the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has recently set health advisories level for two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) at 70 ng/L individually or combined. In response to the need for remediation of PFAS contaminated water many technologies have been scrutinized, including adsorption-based remediation technology. Most notably, the use of granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange resins sorbents. Among these, GAC is the most widely accepted and commonly used treatment technology for PFAS contaminated groundwater and drinking water. However, GAC has many drawbacks for example its susceptibility to fouling by natural organic matter, expensive intensive high energy regeneration process, and inferior in removal of short chain PFAS. Additionally, since GAC is not designed for PFAS adsorption it displays only low affinity towards PFAS, thus, it requires significantly large amounts of GAC to achieve the desired PFAS levels. Therefore, there is a need for adsorbents that are specifically designed for the PFOA/PFOS removal in efficient, cost-effective, and recyclable manner. In ongoing research, Weaver Labs has designed novel PFOA/PFOS specific adsorbents that leverage an advanced solid support platform. In the preliminary adsorption studies, the adsorbent demonstrated superior PFOA/PFOS affinity compared to GAC technology using PFOA/PFOS contaminated real world groundwater. Weaver labs’ long-term goal for this project is to develop commercial PFAS specific adsorbent filter that is highly efficient, effective, recyclable and economical which can be utilized to purify PFAS contaminated water. Ultimately, it would allow pure water to be delivered to the public, thus decreasing the health risk associated with these chemicals. To meet the long-term goal this proposal’s objective is to develop and screen novel adsorbents, carry out the required kinetic adsorption study experiments, and optimize its regeneration and reuse. The completion of proposed study will position us for phase II studies, including a rapid small-scale column study, and eventual pilot study.Project Narrative Perfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment and many municipal public drinking water systems across the US are contaminated. As several studies have associated PFAS to a number serious diseases such as cancer, thyroid disease, changes in liver enzymes, increases in cholesterol levels, and many other diseases, there are clear public health concerns. Current technology was not designed for use with PFAS. In response to PFAS contamination, this project will design a PFAS specific novel adsorbent filter based on fundamental principles that can efficiently remove these toxic chemicals from the contaminated water, thus, providing safer public drinking water, improving the quality of the environment, and ultimately enhancing public health.