Developing PFAS Generic Assessment Criteria (Hands On Training Course)

DELIVERED ONLINE OVER TWO MORNINGS ON 21 AND 23 JANUARY 2025 9.30-13.00 (6 HOURS CPD)

LQM’s unique course has been developed, and will be delivered by, Paul Nathanail.

The course will help attendees develop assessment criteria for a wide range of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) using CLEA.  Attendees will need access to, and familiarity, with CLEA.

The course includes consideration of the recent (1 Dec 2023) announcement that the IARC Working Group classified PFOA as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) and PFOS as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B).

There are no human health generic assessment criteria for the 19+ individual PFAS routinely tested for in soil by commercial laboratories. This course will help risk assessors derive land use specific GACs for these and other PFAS.

There are several publicly accessible sources of physical and chemical properties for individual PFAS.  These show that there is a wide, in some cases very wide, range of values for an individual parameter.

For some individual and groups of PFAS there is available toxicological and plant uptake information to be able to rapidly derive GAC. For many, indeed most, others there is neither toxicological information nor plant uptake information.

We will explore how to assign toxicological values to PFAS with varying degrees of information on their toxicity.

PFAS uptake reflects the structure of the molecule and the differences between various produce groups.  We will explore the effects of different plant uptake factors on GAC and go through sources of information and analytical testing.

By the end of the course, delegates will know how to derive GAC for a range of individual PFAS in soil for the default land uses in CLEA.

Lectures will cover

• PFAS state of the knowledge
• Use of published health criteria values (HCV) or health based guideline values (HBGV)
• Adopting a toxicological value where no HBGV is available
• Sources of plant uptake factors
• Sources of physical and chemical properties data
• Using GAC in GQRA

There will be exercises to derive GAC for:

• PFAS with HCV
• PFAS with HBGV
• PFAS with neither HCV nor HBGV
• Various plant uptake factors
• Various physical & chemical properties

Delegates will need to have access to a computer with Excel and with the CLEA 1.071 spreadsheet already loaded and ready to use. 

By the end of the course you should be able to

• Understand the state of knowledge on dose-response for the 19 PFAS commonly tested in soil)
• Be able to select physical and chemical properties for a range PFAS
• Be able to derive GAC for the CLEA default land uses for individual PFAS
• Understand how to use your PFAS GAC in a GQRA

The course will be of relevance to risk assessors developing human health generic assessment criteria for PFAS and for regulators who expect to review reports containing GAC for PFAS.

Familiarity with the CLEA spreadsheet is assumed.

July 2023

"Expertly delivered and a great way of maximising learning". Consultant

"Excellent training giving a detailed overview of PFAS chemistry, highlighting the difficulties in coming up with suitable toxicology values, and outlining a practical approach to developing GAC for a range of PFAS chemicals. Increasingly important knowledge as PFAS are becoming a consideration on more and more sites."  Local Authority

January 2024

"A combination of skilful presentation and excellent knowledge. "   Consultant

"Excellent grounding in PFAS chemistry and guidance on dealing with the complexities of assessing this huge range of substances with limited/unreliable data sources. The two sessions were packed with information and the option of a post-course meeting to discuss any questions that come up later is very welcome!"    Consultant

"Excellent training from experts in the field of contamination risk assessment.   "  Consultant