What defines a PFAS contamination?
There are no official international standards for PFAS-values to define a contamination, as of October 2023. Several countries do however have an established or suggested threshold for values in soil, drinking water and recreational water. As for drinking water, the PFAS concentration should be as close to zero as possible, since the human exposure to PFAS through food is already above levels considered safe today.
In Norway, there is a proposal for a new standard value for PFOS-substances in soil, in cases where the soil is considered “clean”. The proposed values have not been formally approved yet, but the industry in Norway is already adhering to the proposed standard values.
There is also an established value in Norway for a total amount of PFAS-contamination in waste, based on the standard values required for granting permits.
The established thresholds in Norway are:
PFOS: 2 µg/kg
Total amount of PFAS-substances: 10 µg/kg
(Standard tests measure for 20-30 different sorts of PFAS)
When the level of PFAS exceeds these limits, the soil is considered contaminated and should be stored in a PFAS-deposit, and the leachate water must be remediated.
When the levels of PFAS soil contamination are too high to deposit the soil
There is an upper limit of PFAS-contamination for deposited masses at a landfill.
If the land contamination assessment and soil contamination testing reveals levels above the maximum limit, the contaminated soil must be handled in other ways.
The maximum limits of PFAS contamination for a landfill is:
PFOS: 50.000 µg/kg
PFOA: 3.000.000 µg/kg
Regardless of the levels revealed in your analysis of PFAS, our goal is to identify the best solutions for your situation and the environment.
Perpetuum – your trusted partner for PFAS solutions
At Perpetuum, we aspire to be your trusted partner for your PFAS solutions. With our expertise, services, network of partners and experience we are able to assist you with everything from analysis and assessment to handling the contamination through deposit or other solutions.