EPA exploring new measurement methods for PFAS in air

Taking place from 20th to 22nd September 2023 in sunny Barcelona, CEM 2023 will be our largest emissions monitoring event to date, with more exhibitors and presentations than ever! With 25 years of experience behind it and regular attendance from all around the world, this year’s conference will be CEM’s highly anticipated return to live events – and once again, our Scientific Committee have excelled themselves, putting together a jam-packed programme of talks and workshops delivered by thought-leaders, regulators and industry veterans from all across this global sector. As such, CEM 2023’s conference programme features representatives from many of the major national research institutions, with talks from members of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPCB), a department of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre; the Environmental Protection Agency (United States); France's National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks (INERIS); the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India); the Technical Research Centre of Finland; Italy’s Institute for Energy System Research (RSE); and the Environmental Protection Agency (United States). 

On the first day of the conference, the EPA’s Jeff Ryan will kick off our session on new pollutants with a talk on the Agency’s perspective regarding monitoring for PFAS in air, which is now considered a significant vector. This talk will feature discussion of emissions sources, like chemical manufacture, application and treatment, as well as the incineration and combustion of PFAS-containing compounds, which often result in the formation of products of incomplete combustion or destruction (PICs or PIDs). With such a range of sources, reliable and widely accepted measurement methods are critical for both characterisation and further research into the emerging threat of PFAS pollution, particularly the identification of as-yet-unknown compounds that may be prevalent but are not targeted for measurement. Indeed, the complexity and variety of these substances are compounding the problem. As things stand, we are aware that PFAS are present in many forms: volatile, semi-volatile, non-volatile, polar and nonpolar. This will most certainly necessitate a whole suite of measurement approaches, some of which will be discussed in this talk through the work of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) and Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). Some of the new methods being developed by these Offices include: Other Test Method 45 (OTM-45), formally posted in 2021, for polar semivolatile and nonvolatile PFAS compounds; OTM-50, currently under development for nonpolar volatile PFAS compounds using whole air canisters; and OTM-55 for non-polar semi-volatile and non-volatile PFAS compounds, including fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) and PIC/Ds. 

With two rooms running sessions in parallel over all three days of the conference, attendees to CEM 2023 will have full access to a whole host of presentations that will provide process operators, plant managers, laboratory technicians, instrument users and apprentices with the latest information on developments in emissions monitoring and measuring applications, regulations and technologies.   

If you’re interested in attending this year’s most exciting emission monitoring event, just click here to get your pass to CEM 2023 today.