Pilot Study to Assess Sampling for PFAS Using Existing Teflon™ Sampling Equipment

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds have very low regulatory limits within groundwater, with concentrations in the parts per trillion. PFAS can be found in many products that we encounter daily, so several precautions need to be taken to collect a reliable sample. On one site GZA worked at, certain components of the dedicated sampling equipment contained polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), better known as Teflon™. Could samples for PFAS analysis be collected without being influenced by the PTFE in the equipment? 

In this poster, Matt Bergen explains how the team at GZA designed an approach to confirm that combined with confirmatory quality control samples, it can be acceptable to collect PFAS samples utilizing equipment that contains Teflon™.  

Thank you to Steve Lamb of GZA and Tanya Justham and Michael Summerlin, P.E., of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services for their help.