Developing Ex-Vivo Approaches to Support PFAS Water Permitting and Effluent Monitoring for Industrial Site Application

This project aimed to improve understanding of PFAS bioavailability by developing biologically relevant partition coefficients for use in bioaccumulation modelling. Unlike many legacy contaminants, PFAS do not partition only into storage lipids but also bind strongly to membrane lipids and proteins, which complicates bioconcentration assessment. The study combined laboratory experiments, biomimetic chromatography, and computational modelling to derive partition coefficients for 60–80 PFAS, including most substances covered by proposed EU EQSs. Results were consistent across methods and demonstrated that biomimetic chromatography can rapidly generate relevant data. Overall, the work provides a more robust scientific basis for modelling PFAS bioaccumulation to support water permitting and regulatory assessments.