Thursday, October 15, 2020

NEW PFAS and Risk Communication Fact Sheets Available NOW!

 

 

 

­NEW ITRC Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Risk Communication Fact Sheets

AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Complementing their widely popular technical guidance document, ITRC's PFAS Team is pleased to announce the release of 12 updated and new Fact Sheets: 11 PFAS Fact Sheets and One Risk Communication Toolkit Fact Sheet! The PFAS Team developed the short fact sheets with updated content to replace the older longer fact sheets. For more detailed information, users of the fact sheets will also want to access the newly updated PFAS Technical and Regulatory Guidance Document.

 

 

 

The updated and new fact sheets are linked and briefly described below:

 

Naming Conventions – Addresses naming conventions of some of the commonly reported PFAS. 

 

Regulations – Highlights current information on federal and state regulatory programs concerning PFAS.

 

History and Use – Provides a concise overview of the discovery and manufacturing of PFAS, information about emerging health and environmental concerns and PFAS releases to the environment.

 

Fate and Transport and Physical and Chemical Properties – Provides a brief overview of physical and chemical properties as well as fate and transport processes for PFAS. The PFAS family has a wide universe of substances with diverse physical and chemical properties, therefore, it's crucial for the user to understand specific chemicals or subgroups of chemicals that are being studied to understand their behavior in the environment.

 

Sampling Precautions and Laboratory Analytical Methods – Summarizes information about appropriate tools and provides information to help develop a site-specific sampling and analysis program.

 

Site Characterization and Media-Specific Occurrence – Describes considerations for completing site characterizations where PFAS have been released to the environment, and briefly provides information about media-specific occurrence of some PFAS.

 

Treatment Technologies and Methods – Summarizes treatment technologies and methods for PFAS in environmental media today, recognizing the intense research and development that is rapidly evolving.

 

Aqueous Film-Forming Foam – Provides information, history and background about Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) and describes methods to manage AFFF to limit potential environmental impacts.

 

Human and Ecological Health Effects and Risk Assessment – Summarizes current information about bioaccumulation of PFAS, human and ecological effects and site risk assessment. 

 

Risk Communication – Summarizes information about the role of risk perception in risk communication, risk communication challenges specifically for PFAS and provides examples of PFAS planning and engagement tools.

 

Stakeholder Perspectives – Provides stakeholder perspectives and concerns associated with environmental impacts of PFAS.

 

 

Designed by three collaborating ITRC teams; Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), 1,4-Dioxane, and Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCBs), ITRC's Risk Communication Toolkit provides an overview of risk communication and risk communication concepts, walks through the steps in developing a communication plan and stakeholder outreach activities, and applies these principles in case studies, and includes various tools to facilitate risk communication plan development

 

Risk Communication Toolkit Fact Sheet – Provides key aspects of risk communication, describes the communication planning process and includes a list of communication and engagement tools that are included in the toolkit.

 

ITRC is a program of the Environmental Research Institute of the States (ERIS). ERIS is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the District of Columbia and managed by the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS).