January 2024 | Product 3001521
Validation of PFAS
Measurement Methods
This summary describes IDA’s statistical analyses to support the validation of a
measurement method for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a
group of synthetic chemicals that are resistant to heat, oil and water. Known as
“forever chemicals” because of their rise as a persistent and mobile pollutant, PFAS
were used in the aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) the Department of Defense
developed to extinguish high-hazard liquid hydrocarbon fires. The use of AFFF
resulted in the prevalence of PFAS at many military installations where the Defense
Department has environmental management responsibility, prompting interest in a
validated method for measuring PFAS.
Testing for individual PFAS (called analytes)
provides a quantitative measure of the PFAS
contamination in an environmental sample, and
using a validated laboratory method is a reliable
way to assess and monitor areas of interest. In
2020, when this work began, the only methods
published by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for measuring PFAS were for less
than 30 analytes in drinking water and
nonpotable water. In partnership with the EPA,
the Strategic Environmental Research and
Development Program (SERDP) and the
Environmental Security and Technology
Certification Program (ESTCP) funded the
validation of a new measurement method for 40
PFAS in eight different environmental matrices.
SERDP/ESTCP first asked IDA researchers to
calculate summary statistics from data generated
in a single-laboratory validation (SLV) study
that served as a trial run for the method study.
Allyson Buytendyk led the IDA team of
