PFAS in E-Waste
Occurrence, types, and estimated quantities of PFAS in e-waste and appropriate management strategies for PFAS containing e-waste components
Project Goal
The goal of this project is to sample and quantify PFAS content and PFAS leaching profiles of selected e-waste components. In October 2021, US EPA announced important steps toward evaluating the existing data for four PFAS under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and strengthening the ability to clean up PFAS contamination across the country through the RCRA corrective action process. In October 2021, the US EPA published the human health toxicity assessment for GenX chemicals (trade name for a processing aid technology used to make high-performance fluoropolymers). In addition, US EPA is considering defining PFAS or some subset of PFAS as a “hazardous substance” under the Comprehensive Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). US EPA’s comprehensive approach to addressing PFAS is guided research restriction, and remediation. The research activities proposed are aligned with the research components of the US EPA’s PFAS roadmap.
Meet our Principal Investigators
Berrin Tansel (PI)
Ph.D., P.E., Civil and Environmental Eng. Department
Phone: 305.348.2928
E-mail: tanselb@fiu.edu
Yelena Katsenovich (Co-PI)
Ph.D., Applied Research Center
Phone: 305.348.2338
E-mail: katsenov@fiu.edu
Natalia Soares (Co-PI)
Ph.D., Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Phone: 305.348.3118
E-mail: nsoaresq@fiu.edu