Fate and Transport of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in the Soil Environment

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are ubiquitous in the environment. One key application of PFASs is in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). AFFFs have been intensively used at numerous military installations across the world and released into the environment through various activities, including fire-fighting training and fire suppression. Historical uses of aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) for fire extinguishing or fire-fighting training activities led to numerous contamination source zones of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Soils contaminated with PFASs at source zones can potentially act as continuing reservoirs of PFASs contamination to connected groundwater and surface water for decades. Thus, efforts to manage and/or remediate source zone soils are urgently needed. This Ph.D. project is to better the understanding of the sorption, transport, and transformation behaviour of a wide range of PFASs and PFAA precursors in the soil environment for the remediation of PFAS-contaminated soils.

Hong Nguyen's background is Environmental Engineering (B.Eng, M.Eng). She worked on constructed wetland technology and application of novel ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV LED) for water reuse purposes. She is now a PhD student studying behaviours of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the environment. Hong Nguyen's PhD project aims at understanding the fate and transport of PFASs in the soil environment for optimization of PFAS-contaminated soil remediation processes.

Please note this is a PhD candidate thesis presentation.