PFAS Consulting Services

Industry Analysis

Preparing for EU PFAS Regulations and Their Global Impact

Do your products, supply chains, or waste streams contain PFAS? How do you know?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can be present throughout your product supply chain as one or more of thousands of chemicals containing carbon-fluorine bonds. They are typically used selectively to enhance product or process performance, but due to their widespread use and persistence, they can also be present when not intentionally added.

As public scrutiny and government oversight of PFAS — including smaller molecules such as PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, and GenX, as well as extremely large molecules such as fluoropolymers — continue to grow, it's critical to develop a thorough understanding of the chemical compounds present throughout your product supply chain and waste streams. However, the multi-tiered, global nature of modern supply chains complicates the process of evaluating product composition, especially at the low levels that may be necessary to identify PFAS.

Factory Auditing & Assembly Line Evaluations [ME]

How can Exponent help you identify PFAS in your products, supply chains, and waste streams to support product stewardship and regulatory compliance?

We support global brands of manufactured consumer products with multidisciplinary engineering and scientific expertise to help our clients identify PFAS in their products, supply chains, and waste streams and take appropriate action. Our teams of highly skilled chemists, chemical engineers, toxicologists, industrial hygienists, biologists, and environmental, materials, and data scientists offer our clients deep technical understanding of PFAS properties and uses and how to detect and quantify their presence in materials, products, and environmental samples. We create bespoke testing plans, perform unparalleled chemical analysis validation, and provide in-depth data interpretation to help address complex issues throughout product and process lifecycles, including materials selection and qualification, product stewardship, end-of-life issues, and environmental and human health risks.

High Tech Factory Facility with Multiple Employees.

Are there PFAS in the environment at your site? What can you do about it?

Mitigating the presence of PFAS in the environment is a complex process that requires understanding constantly changing regulations, site-specific conditions, and a multitude of potential sources. Exponent supports site owners in evaluating environmental PFAS contamination and understanding potential implications and responses. Our multidisciplinary team of environmental scientists and engineers helps clients make sense of complex analytical data, assists with discharge permitting, and assesses the potential risks to humans and the environment and damages to natural resources. Additionally, Exponent can help clients evaluate the impact of PFAS that may be present and conduct root-cause evaluations of site operations or forensic investigations to identify likely sources of PFAS at a site.

Capabilities

Exponent's integrated teams of multidisciplinary experts provide unparalleled scientific analysis and data interpretation to empower the swift, proactive responses required when facing potential compliance or litigation issues concerning PFAS.

Why are PFAS referred to as "forever chemicals," and how do they affect the environment?
When certain PFAS are introduced into environmental media such as water and soil, they can remain in the natural environment for long periods — leading to the nickname "forever chemicals" — with the potential to enter drinking water, plants, and other organisms. However, PFAS comprise thousands of chemical compounds with different properties and different risk profiles depending on their specific chemical structures. It is also important to consider the transformations that may occur in the environment — e.g., reactions that may convert unregulated "parent" compounds into regulated "daughter" compounds.
How can facility operators — from manufacturers to municipal water agencies — manage the environmental impacts of PFAS in their products, supply chains, and process streams?
Our biologists, ecologists, and environmental scientists and engineers analyze and model environments and ecosystems to perform environmental risk assessments, support environmental permitting, and provide a technical foundation for natural resource damage assessments. Exponent's multidisciplinary team of environmental and earth scientists supports clients evaluating the presence of PFAS in process streams and products and provides testing approaches and analyses to understand the sources and fates of PFAS. We assist clients with environmental permitting, site remediation, evaluation of biosolids, chemical fate and transport analysis, and toxicity evaluations. Our expertise allows us to help clients stay abreast of and participate in rapidly changing rulemaking and legislative processes for PFAS.
Why is it important to identify and quantify the PFAS in your supply chain?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including fluorosurfactants and other fluorocarbons, such as fluoropolymers and fluoroealstomers, have been used for decades in a wide range of products and manufacturing processes because of unique properties related to the fluorine in these substances. They can improve the durability and performance of many manufactured consumer products, including electronics, paints, textiles, adhesives, sealers, foams, medical devices, lubricants, upholsteries, and carpets. Although the use of some PFAS has diminished or been eliminated in the U.S., many other PFAS are used to provide similar performance properties, and restricted PFAS may still be present in imported products and components, such as semiconductors for consumer electronics.
Addressing PFAS in your products begins with an accurate chemical assessment of your manufacturing supply chain, followed by in-depth chemical data analysis. Global manufacturers rely on Exponent's multidisciplinary consulting teams to evaluate supply chains, including vendor partners, using rigorous scientific methodologies and data analysis.
How can accurate testing criteria improve PFAS investigations throughout the product lifecycle?
Our teams have unparalleled expertise in identifying what needs to be measured, selecting the test methods capable of providing those measurements reliably, and overseeing the accurate construction of testing variables, including validating previous testing methods and providing accurate chemical analysis and chemical data interpretation. We bring decades of experience constructing tests and interpreting testing data to helping our clients make critical decisions about addressing PFAS in their products and supply chains with confidence.
How can Exponent's multidisciplinary expertise help manufacturers understand how PFAS contributes to product performance and what alternatives may exist?
Our integrated teams include chemists, chemical engineers, toxicologists, industrial hygienists, materials and corrosion engineers, polymer and materials scientists, data scientists, and health and environmental scientists, as well as manufacturing and process engineers, with the expertise you need to evaluate the performance of your products and processes and conduct comparative analysis to support alternative materials selection when feasible. Our team can also help you develop appropriate product stewardship practices for tracking and managing PFAS throughout your supply chains and waste streams as regulations evolve, particularly in industries where adequate alternatives may not be available, like consumer electronics and medical devices.
As public scrutiny of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) increases, so do the number and types of PFAS regulations emerging in jurisdictions around the world, even as the definition of "PFAS" continues to evolve. Exponent's 50+ years of supporting clients with technical expertise and scientific research across numerous industries and applications enable us to provide sound feedback, critical analysis, and important insights to support you through all stages of evolving regulatory frameworks.

What Can We Help You Solve?

Exponent's multidisciplinary PFAS consultants provide customized analysis to help you manage PFAS throughout your products, processes, supply chains, and waste streams.

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