Companies Race To Develop Solutions to Eradicate Pervasive PFAS

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The pervasive man-made chemicals known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continue to draw attention in the courts, public domain, water systems, the White House and U.S. Congress.  Recently, legislators have again held hearings on what to do about PFAS — a chemical by-product in the manufacturing of everything from frying pans to firefighting foam — and are still looking for a feasible solution to eliminate them from the water we drink. 

During a congressional hearing, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) asked for solutions to the impacts of PFAS contamination of groundwater on dairy farms.

“Thousands of gallons of milk have been dumped and people’s livelihoods have been destroyed by this contamination,” she said. 

Historically, PFAS have been used in the manufacturing of countless industrial and consumer goods including non-stick pans, waterproof outdoor gear, and firefighting foam. But because the PFAS are resistant to breakdown by natural factors like UV light, they are persistent in our water, food, and bodies.

Research shows trace amounts are already inside most people — if not all — in the U.S. A recent analysis of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database revealed that Colorado has about 21,000 industrial sites that may be handling PFAS, more than any other state.

The prevalence of PFAS in our daily lives has led companies like Agilent Technologies Inc. ((A) to develop what it calls a complete start-to-finish workflow for extraction, screening, quantification and reporting of PFAS in water and environmental samples to make it easier for municipalities to get a grasp of their contamination problem. The Environmental Group Ltd. EGL has also reported positive results from its commercial PFAS water treatment trial with Reclaim Waste.

BioLargo Inc. BLGO invents, develops and commercializes innovative platform technologies to solve challenging environmental problems sustainably and affordably.  The company has previously developed eco-friendly technologies for air quality control and water disinfection. BioLargo is now commercializing a new proprietary technology that eliminates PFAS from water. 

The Biden administration and the EPA have begun regulating PFAS in drinking water and creating new rules on the discharge of PFAS chemicals from industrial facilities. This past fall, the EPA and the White House both made major announcements of plans to reduce the impact of these toxic chemicals, providing greater clarity on the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding PFAS over the coming years.

 "The Biden administration has listed PFAS as one of the top environmental issues of the decade," BioLargo President and CEO Dennis P. Calvert said. “We now have a device and the expertise that provides selective extraction [of PFAS].  It generates 1/1000 the waste that's created for disposal of the competition."

BioLargo projects its treatment technology, called the Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC), will be available for commercial use in 2022, achieving greater commercial reach through planned partnerships with established players in the water treatment industry. 

"These projects could range from $500,000 to the $15 million range. I think this is a huge opportunity for BioLargo to create value for our shareholders, so we are very excited,” Calvert said. 

BioLargo’s AEC water treatment technology was developed from the ground up to be the sustainable, low-waste solution for affordable PFAS removal. The AEC separates PFAS compounds in an electric field and forces them onto specialized, compact, proprietary membranes that can later be disposed of quickly and safely.

Compared to carbon-based filtration, the most common PFAS removal system, BioLargo claims the AEC generates approximately 1/1000 the amount of PFAS-laden waste by weight, has a significantly lower carbon footprint, produces higher purity water and is more compact. The result is the removal of 99% PFAS from water in a continuous flow, at energy costs as low as $0.30 per 1,000 gallons.

You can learn more about the BioLargo AEC as well as BioLargo’s PFAS water testing program at www.biolargoengineering.com/biolargo-aec. To learn more about BioLargo Inc., go to www.biolargoengineering.com.

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.