WWEM - Abstract

Abstract Information :

Environmental pollution has strong links to adverse human health outcomes and has led to growing research to determine the chemical causes of disease. ‘Fit-for-purpose’ monitoring approaches are critical to interpreting these relationships by establishing the pollutant(s), degree of exposure, risk, and efficacy of management processes to better control release and mitigate harm. rnrnPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pollutants of increasing concern given their widespread use and initial data showing environmental endurance. Despite increasing research within the literature, the degree of widescale monitoring and methodologies for the multiple PFAS series has not been discussed. Therefore, a systematic review of PFAS pollution was carried out using the terms ´´Environmental Monitoring Perfluorinated compounds´´ with the search engines Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science to determine the extent of current research. This showed a considerable lack of research in the UK, with current monitoring methodologies limited to laboratory settings that do not cover the scope of anticipated PFAS pollutants. This further highlights the deficiencies in understanding the extent and impact of PFAS pollution – therefore, it underlines the need for technologies and protocols that deliver in-field testing to better understand routes of exposure, for improved mitigation measures, and the environmental and public health risk.rnrnWork has started on developing such protocols for environmental field-testing using an automated sample concentration system and a miniature mass spectrometer (Microsaics Systems). Initial data has shown promise for a range of volatile and non-volatile PFAS within water and will be applied to environmental solids in future work. rn