April 6, 2021, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, EDT (17:00-19:00 GMT)

This third PFAS Roundtable Session offers a unique opportunity to interact directly with experts from the ITRC PFAS Team from around the country on two topics: Aqueous Film-forming Foams (AFFF) and Treatment Technologies. Participants are requested to submit questions in advance of the event to be addressed during this extended Question and Answer discussion with expert panelists. The session is intended to be tailored to the specific needs of its participants, with the expectation that the participant will have a basic understanding of these topics prior to attending the Roundtable Session.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) constitute a large family of fluorinated chemicals, exceeding several thousand in commercial use or the environment that vary widely in their chemical and physical properties. The persistence and mobility of some PFAS, combined with decades of widespread use in industrial processes, certain types of firefighting foams, and consumer products, have resulted in their being present in most environmental media at trace levels across the globe. PFAS have only recently come to the attention of investigators and the public in large part due to the fact that until the early 2000s analytical methods to detect low levels of PFAS in the environment were available only in a few select research institutions. It was not until the early 2010s that these methods to detect a limited number of PFAS became widely available and had detection limits in water low enough to be commensurate with levels of potential human health effects. Toxicological studies have raised concerns regarding the bioaccumulative nature and potential health concerns of some PFAS. As a result, our understanding of PFAS and the risks they may pose is rapidly evolving.

This Roundtable Session is based on the following ITRC-produced resources:

• A series of fact sheets that synthesize key information about PFAS science. In particular for this webinar, the AFFF fact sheet and the Treatment Technologies and Methods fact sheet are available resources. The fact sheets were first published between 2017 and 2018 and updated in 2020. Abbreviated Fact Sheets to summarize information in the technical and regulatory guidance document were prepared in August 2020.


• A web-based technical and regulatory guidance document published by the ITRC PFAS Team in April 2020 that presents the necessary breadth and depth not given by the fact sheets, stakeholder points of view, technical challenges and uncertainties, risk communication strategies, and provides links to pertinent scientific literature. Limited small changes and some references were added to the document in September 2020 to address a range of quickly changing topics. In 2021, ITRC plans to update the technical and regulatory guidance document with new information and regulatory approaches that become available to address the evolving understanding of these contaminants.


• Online training materials that convey the information presented in the technical and regulatory guidance document. Ten video training modules and brief introductory videos on the topics are posted on ITRC's YouTube channel. Additionally, the Team provided in-person training workshops to approximately 2,550 attendees through March 2020. In 2020 an additional 500 people attended virtual workshops. In 2021, the Team plans to provide additional online training resources. More information will be available on the ITRC Training page.

• state and federal environmental staff working on PFAS-contaminated sites
• Other project managers and decision makers
• Stakeholders who are involved in community engagement

• Aqueous Film-Forming Foams
• Treatment technologies and methods for PFAS-containing liquid and solid media

• ITRC Video Training Modules

• Aqueous Film-Forming Foams
• Treatment technologies and methods for PFAS-containing liquid and solid media

• Richard Spiese,VT DEC
• Cliff Shierk, MN PCA
• Jennifer Field, Oregon State University
• Michelle Crimi, Clarkson University
• Shalene Thomas, Wood
• Bill DiGuiseppi, Jacobs

• Nicole Henderson, ITRC Contractor (nicole.henderson@hmenviro.com)
• Kate Emma Schlosser, NH Dept. of Environmental Services (kateemma.schlosser@des.nh.gov)
• Lesley Hay Wilson, Sage Risk Solutions (lhay_wilson@sagerisk.com)

• Adobe^® Connect™ Mobile Apps
• Adobe® Connect™ Visual Quick Start Guide (754KB/2pp/PDF)

Press the "Go to Training" button to view the seminar. Please be at this location at the beginning of the conference call.

An archive of this seminar is available for download in Microsoft PowerPoint Format, Adobe Acrobat, and MP3 formats.
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