BREAKING NEWS: EPA’s Latest PFAS Risk Assessment – What It Means for Biosolids Management

Source

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Publication Date

January 14, 2025

EPA Releases Draft Risk Assessment on PFOA and PFOS in Sewage Sludge

Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a ๐ƒ๐ซ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ ๐’๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐’๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž ๐‘๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐€๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐…๐Ž๐€ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐๐…๐Ž๐’, shedding light on the potential human and environmental risks associated with the presence of these persistent chemicals in wastewater sludge (aka biosolids).

This document reflects the latest scientific understanding of these risks and marks an important step toward addressing the challenges posed by PFAS.

At Aries, we are deeply committed to advancing sustainable solutions for biosolids management. Our innovative gasification technology not only converts biosolids into renewable energy but also ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐…๐€๐’ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ, ensuring a cleaner and safer future.

๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ž๐ซ, ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ง๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐žโ€”one where the challenges posed by pollutants like PFAS can be met with forward-thinking approaches. By converting biosolids into energy and destroying PFAS, we aim to contribute to the circular economy and a more sustainable future.

This report is an important reminder of why collaboration across industries, governments, and communities is vital to tackling these challenges together.

Explore these documents to gain insight and prepare for the 60-day public comment period:ย 

  1. ๐๐ซ๐ž-๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐…๐ž๐๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž
    • A summary of the draft risk assessment, its objectives, and the public comment process.
    • Ideal for a high-level overview and procedural details.
  2. ๐ƒ๐ซ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ ๐’๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐’๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž ๐‘๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐€๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ
    • The full report detailing the EPA’s findings on potential risks from PFOA and PFOS in biosolids.
    • Recommended for stakeholders seeking an in-depth understanding of the risk assessment and modeling approaches.
  3. ๐„๐๐€ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐„๐ฑ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ž๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ
    • Explains how the EPA incorporated feedback from scientific reviewers into the draft.
    • Useful for those interested in the peer review process and updates made.
  4. ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐ญ ๐’๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐€๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ
    • Focuses on responses to key scientific questions raised by the advisory board.
    • Great for understanding how the EPA addressed expert critiques.
  5. ๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐€๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ
    • Quick, accessible insights into the most common questions about the draft assessment.
    • Perfect for anyone looking for straightforward explanations.