Landfills receive a wide range of products that contain PFAS including, for example, carpet, food packaging materials and textiles. The presence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the leachate generated at landfills that contain municipal solid waste (MSW) is well documented. In contrast to leachate, there is no published information on the presence of PFAS in landfill gas, although elevated PFAS has been reported in the ambient air at three landfills.<br/><br/>The objective of this research is to measure the release of PFAS during the anaerobic decomposition of a variety of single use food packaging materials. Initially, 40 samples of various food packaging materials were collected and screened using Particle-Induced Gamma Ray Emission (PIGE). Eleven of the 40 samples showed a total fluorine concentration above 500 ppm, including various microwave popcorn bags, paper plates & clamshell containers, some of which are labeled as eco-friendly. The 11 samples that showed high total F were then subject to a methanol extraction and HPLC-MS analysis. 6:2 FTOH at greater than 1.5 ng/g was confirmed in all 11 samples. To evaluate gaseous PFAS release, these 11 samples are being tested in reactors operated under anaerobic conditions and designed to simulate the high solids environment of a landfill. Each test material will be inoculated with a PFAS-free culture. Gas samples are collected by allowing gas to pass through a sorbent tube and then to a gas collection bag so that the volume of gas passing through the tube is known. Gas and leachate samples will be collected every one to two weeks to evaluate the extent to which the presence of PFAS is released to the gas phase. In preliminary work with one material, quantifiable 6:2 FTOH was observed by collecting 300 mL of the gas produced from the anaerobic biodegradation of the test material.

Release of gas phase PFAS from paper-based food packaging and municipal solid waste under simulated landfill conditions

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