The National Academies Press

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Pages 47-67

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From page 47... ... 47 5.1 Overview As indicated in Chapter 2 of this report, AFFF has been used for decades at airports in the United States and Canada to extinguish fires. PFASs, principal active ingredients in AFFF, are considered an emerging contaminant in the environmental industry. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports is removed and injected into laboratory instrumentation. PFASs are also likely to "stick" to suspended particles in water or to a filter if samples are filtered to retain the "dissolved" fraction of the water sample. Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 49 Field Equipment Decontamination Field equipment that is used at multiple sampling locations (e.g., flow-through cells, field meters, and interface probes) requires proper decontamination between uses at different sampling locations. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 50 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports • Aqueous samples should be collected directly into bottles prepared by a laboratory to be free of PFASs. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 51 sampling site, the sampler opens the shipped FRB and pours the preserved reagent water into an empty shipped sample bottle, then seals it and labels it as the FRB. The FRB is shipped back to the laboratory along with the samples and is analyzed to ensure that PFASs were not introduced into the sample during sample collection/handling. Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... 52 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports vigorously in the laboratory prior to analysis. Additionally, significant challenges arise due to the propensity of precursor PFASs to transform into daughter compounds in the environment (e.g., do the laboratory results adequately account for the full mass of PFASs and the associated potential risks, at the site? Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 53 methodology. Reporting limits for this methodology range from 0.005 to 0.020 µg/L, i.e., below U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... 54 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports extracting and analyzing PFASs in soil reinforces the need to use a reliable, accredited analytical laboratory. The following sections describe key considerations in laboratory analysis for airports or site custodians when discussing an analytical program for PFASs with an analytical laboratory and what to look for in methodology and accreditation. Read the entire page →
From page 55... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 55 than the long-chain compounds. A site investigation for PFOS without an analysis for precursor PFASs may not result in a fully representative CSM or accurate understanding of the potential risk posed by PFASs at an airport. Read the entire page →
From page 56... ... 56 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports • American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) (https://www.a2la.org/dirsearch new/newsearch.cfm) Read the entire page →
From page 57... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 57 approach quantifies the sum of PFASs that could be converted to PFAAs in the environment by simulating accelerated environmental degradation, with a slightly expanded range of PFSA and PFCAs quantified. Performing this analysis before and after the sample containing PFASs is partially digested reveals the "hidden mass" of PFAAs that were previously not detectable. Read the entire page →
From page 58... ... 58 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports • A receptor: A human or ecological receptor that would be exposed to the source. • An exposure pathway: At least one complete exposure pathway through which the receptor(s) Read the entire page →
From page 59... ... Figure 5-2. Sources, pathways, and receptors in airport firefighting. Read the entire page →
From page 60... ... 60 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports 5.4.2.3 Receptors Receptors can be either humans or ecological flora and fauna (i.e., plant and/or animal) that could be exposed to contamination. Read the entire page →
From page 61... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 61 5.4.3 Managing Risk Associated with the Impacts of PFASs The scientific and regulatory communities' understanding of the chemistry, fate, transport, and toxicology of PFASs continues to evolve rapidly. In the midst of this changing regulatory climate, airports are currently challenged to understand what unacceptable risks may be present and what to do about these risks if they are present. Read the entire page →
From page 62... ... 62 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports affect the effectiveness of any given remedial approach. Moreover, with PFASs, degradation of select precursors if present (or had been historically present) Read the entire page →
From page 63... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 63 concentrations of PFASs in soil need to be brought into compliance with applicable guidelines and/or regulations) Read the entire page →
From page 64... ... 64 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports and groundwater impacted by PFASs that is introduced into their operations at a given time to avoid operational efficiency issues. This circumstance adds additional complexity to large-scale remediation projects for PFASs. Read the entire page →
From page 65... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 65 carbon [GAC] /removed by membrane, "treated" effluent) Read the entire page →
From page 66... ... 66 Use and potential Impacts of aFFF Containing pFaSs at airports Ion Exchange Resin Ion exchange (IX) involves the use of resins (i.e., very small plastic porous beads with a fixed charge) Read the entire page →
From page 67... ... addressing Legacy environmental Impacts 67 5.5.2.2 Permeable Reactive Barrier Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) , which essentially are vertical walls (or trenches) Read the entire page →

From page 47...

... 47 5.1 Overview As indicated in Chapter 2 of this report, AFFF has been used for decades at airports in the United States and Canada to extinguish fires. PFASs, principal active ingredients in AFFF, are considered an emerging contaminant in the environmental industry.