PFAS chemicals spark health, environmental and industrial monitoring concerns
Firefighters in Spain rely on PFAS‑based foams and protective gear to combat wildfires, but the same per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances persist in the environment, accumulating in water, soil, wildlife and humans. Studies note that firefighters are among the most exposed occupational groups to these "forever chemicals".
Industrial laboratory SGS now offers a range of PFAS air‑sampling kits and analytical services, using LC‑MS/MS and GC‑MS/MS to measure PFAS in workplace and ambient air, including low‑volume multi‑media samplers that capture both particulate‑bound and semi‑volatile compounds.
Separately, researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have created fluorescent nanoclusters that light up in the presence of PFAS, achieving a detection limit of 0.4 ppb. The sensor, based on atomically precise cerium‑glycine clusters emitting UV light at 353 nm, can identify long‑chain PFAS such as perfluorooctanoic, perfluorononanoic and perfluorodecanoic acids, offering a rapid and low‑cost tool for water‑treatment facilities and field screening.
Entities: Brookhaven National Laboratory · Cerium‑glycine fluorescent nanocluster · Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) · SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) · Spanish firefighters
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] PFAS are persistent chemicals that accumulate in water, soil, animals and humans. (a5110d3e-0e03-4e53-92bd-820af75264b4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] SGS provides low‑volume multi‑media PFAS air sampling that captures particulate‑bound and semi‑volatile PFAS. (35f4927e-6460-48a4-a798-fe8529708324)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The sensor can detect long‑chain PFAS such as perfluorooctanoic, perfluorononanoic and perfluorodecanoic acids. (6f80acca-ebf2-40e7-9683-0a14efe24dae)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] PFAS are used in firefighting foams and protective gear. (a5110d3e-0e03-4e53-92bd-820af75264b4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Researchers developed fluorescent nanoclusters that detect PFAS with a detection limit of 0.4 ppb. (6f80acca-ebf2-40e7-9683-0a14efe24dae)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Firefighters are among the most exposed professions to PFAS. (a5110d3e-0e03-4e53-92bd-820af75264b4)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] SGS offers PFAS air sampling kits and laboratory analysis using LC‑MS/MS and GC‑MS/MS. (35f4927e-6460-48a4-a798-fe8529708324)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The nanocluster sensor uses cerium cores with glycine molecules and emits UV fluorescence at 353 nm. (6f80acca-ebf2-40e7-9683-0a14efe24dae)