SERDP FY 2023 New Start Projects

 Environmental Restoration (ER) Program Area

The objective of this Statement of Need (SON) was to develop analytical methods to provide repeatable and environmentally relevant measures of total PFAS in PFAS-free firefighting formulations to demonstrate that they do not contain PFAS at concentrations above 1 part per billion (ppb). Specifically, the goal was to address the following research needs:

• Develop robust sample preparation procedures that are implementable in a production laboratory environment.
• Develop methods for accounting for or eliminating inorganic fluorine from total PFAS quantitation.
• Develop methods to reduce the impact of other constituents on total PFAS quantitation.
• Minimize the potential for exclusion of PFAS, such as short-chain PFAS, from total PFAS quantitation.
• Validate the method in accordance with a validation study plan consisting of all elements require by the current version of the DoD Quality Systems Manual (DoD QSM).
• Document the method in a format that is compatible with DoD QSM requirements and allows for easy implementation by production laboratories.

The projects listed below were selected to address the objectives of this SON. Additional information on individual projects can be found by clicking the project title.

• Method to Measure PFAS in MIL-SPEC Firefighting Formulations by Extraction Using Osorb and Advanced Sorbents with Organofluorine Analysis
  • Lead Investigator: Paul Edmiston, College of Wooster
• Development of Two New Total Organic Fluorine Methods to Determine Total PFAS in PFAS-Free Firefighting Formulations at Trace Levels
  • Lead Investigator: Susan Richardson, University of South Carolina
• Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of PFAS in Firefighting Formulations
  • Lead Investigator: Haoran Wei, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Coupling Foam Fractionation with High-Resolution Molecular Absorption Spectrometry Graphite Furnace to Quantify Total PFAS in PFAS-Free Firefighting Formulations
  • Lead Investigator: Youn Jeong Choi, Purdue University
• A Standard Operating Procedure to Quantify Total PFAS in PFAS-Free Firefighting Formulations
  • Lead Investigator: Kyle Doudrick, University of Notre Dame

Research will permit analysis of firefighting formulations to demonstrate compliance with future revisions of draft MIL-PRF-XX727.