Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been under intense investigation by the scientific community due to their persistence in the environment and potentially hazardous effects on living organisms. In order to tackle the presence of these compounds in water, to date, the research has been...
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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Series: | Clean Technologies |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/5/4/60 |
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author | Marco Carnevale Miino Taťána Halešová Tomáš Macsek Jakub Raček Petr Hlavínek |
author_facet | Marco Carnevale Miino Taťána Halešová Tomáš Macsek Jakub Raček Petr Hlavínek |
author_sort | Marco Carnevale Miino |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been under intense investigation by the scientific community due to their persistence in the environment and potentially hazardous effects on living organisms. In order to tackle the presence of these compounds in water, to date, the research has been strongly focused on the evaluation of the effectiveness of different types of technologies. Considering the extreme complexity of the matter of PFASs and our relatively low knowledge in this topic, the following question arises: is the “chemical only” approach that is followed for evaluating the effectiveness of technologies for PFAS removal from water reliable enough? In this work, some limitations of the present approach are discussed, highlighting the reasons why it cannot be considered a reliable tool to correctly estimate the effectiveness of technology when referring to emerging compounds such as PFASs. Bioassays can play a key role in moving towards an integrated bio-chemical evaluation (chemical analysis and ecotoxicological evaluation), which is strongly encouraged. This represents the only way to completely characterize a water matrix and fully evaluate the impact of technologies when dealing with micropollutants in water, such as PFASs. Future research should focus on defining an optimal battery of bioassays that specifically fit to best represent changes in water quality in terms of short- and long-term impacts on living organisms. |
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format | Article |
id | doaj.art-8d1c0c13da1947a78a31404af286c895 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2571-8797 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:53:50Z |
publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Clean Technologies |
spelling | doaj.art-8d1c0c13da1947a78a31404af286c8952023-12-22T14:00:52ZengMDPI AGClean Technologies2571-87972023-09-01541203121310.3390/cleantechnol5040060Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical AssessmentMarco Carnevale Miino0Taťána Halešová1Tomáš Macsek2Jakub Raček3Petr Hlavínek4AdMaS Research Center, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 651/139, 612 00 Brno, Czech RepublicAdMaS Research Center, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 651/139, 612 00 Brno, Czech RepublicAdMaS Research Center, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 651/139, 612 00 Brno, Czech RepublicAdMaS Research Center, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 651/139, 612 00 Brno, Czech RepublicAdMaS Research Center, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 651/139, 612 00 Brno, Czech RepublicPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been under intense investigation by the scientific community due to their persistence in the environment and potentially hazardous effects on living organisms. In order to tackle the presence of these compounds in water, to date, the research has been strongly focused on the evaluation of the effectiveness of different types of technologies. Considering the extreme complexity of the matter of PFASs and our relatively low knowledge in this topic, the following question arises: is the “chemical only” approach that is followed for evaluating the effectiveness of technologies for PFAS removal from water reliable enough? In this work, some limitations of the present approach are discussed, highlighting the reasons why it cannot be considered a reliable tool to correctly estimate the effectiveness of technology when referring to emerging compounds such as PFASs. Bioassays can play a key role in moving towards an integrated bio-chemical evaluation (chemical analysis and ecotoxicological evaluation), which is strongly encouraged. This represents the only way to completely characterize a water matrix and fully evaluate the impact of technologies when dealing with micropollutants in water, such as PFASs. Future research should focus on defining an optimal battery of bioassays that specifically fit to best represent changes in water quality in terms of short- and long-term impacts on living organisms.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/5/4/60PFASemerging contaminantstoxicitybioassaysecotoxicologypersistent compounds |
spellingShingle | Marco Carnevale Miino Taťána Halešová Tomáš Macsek Jakub Raček Petr Hlavínek Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment Clean Technologies PFAS emerging contaminants toxicity bioassays ecotoxicology persistent compounds |
title | Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment |
title_full | Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment |
title_fullStr | Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment |
title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment |
title_short | Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Treatments to Remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Water—Are We Using the Right Approach? Proposal of a Paradigm Shift from “Chemical Only” towards an Integrated Bio-Chemical Assessment |
title_sort | evaluation of the effectiveness of treatments to remove per and polyfluoroalkyl substances from water are we using the right approach proposal of a paradigm shift from chemical only towards an integrated bio chemical assessment |
topic | PFAS emerging contaminants toxicity bioassays ecotoxicology persistent compounds |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/5/4/60 |
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