2 Solutions to Eliminate PFAS Health Effects - GAC & RO Membrane

PFAS has invaded in our life, and threaten our health through drinking water.’ Around the end of May 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a bombshell report. Actually, water supply around military bases in some states is contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, at levels well above the minimum healthy threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This raised concerns about the military’s practices around the country and the well-being of the general public. But what exactly is PFAS, and how does it interact with the human body? What are some ways we can do to reduce contaminants?

What is PFAS?

According to existing research, PFAS is a large and complex manufactured chemical that is widely used to make different everyday products. From nonstick cookware to firefighting foam, PFAS are routinely used. Chemically, PFAS molecules are made up of a chain of carbon and fluorine atoms.

Due to the carbon-fluorine bond’s strongness, these chemicals do not degrade in the environment easily. Thus, it earns PFAS the nickname “Forever Chemicals”. What’s worse, scientists still are not able to estimate the half-life of PFAS in the environment. Among the different chemical compounds, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were manufactured for the longest time, are the easiest to find in the environment, and are the most researched.

What are PFAS Effects on Humans?

While rudimentary research has been conducted on PFAS, public health officials are gravely concerned about the impacts of PFAS on the environment and how they interact with the human body. PFAS are not only fast widespread, but they also easily come into contact with people’s daily routines. PFAS is a very stubborn chemical, can gradually accumulate in the human body, and will remain longer than the body can excrete. Existing research already has found an association between exposure to PFAS with lower childhood visual-motor abilities, as well as an association between higher levels of PFAS in plasma and an elevated risk of Type-2 Diabetes among women.

• PFAS Human Health Risk Assessment

PFAS are toxic to humans, even a very small ounce can stay in our blood for years. No medical interventions is able to remove them from the body.  Then what exact damage will it do to our body? Let’s look at the following table.

As it indicated the PFAS is threatening our health seriously, it’s time to know where it come from, and how to keep it away from us.

Where does PFAS come from？

In New England, PFAS contamination has been detected in drinking water sources throughout the region, including the Peace International Trade Port in New Hampshire; in North Bennington, Vermont; and in Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Reports like the one recently published by DoD on PFAS certainly raise concerns among the general public, as many are worried about the potential risks contaminants like PFAS pose in the water system. Many wondered whether there are ways they can remove these contaminants from the drinking water so they can know they are not exposed to toxic.

There are two solutions to it, Granular Activated Carbon and Reverse Osmosis.

Two Ways to Remove PFAS from Water

The EPA published articles and guidelines on various drinking water treatment technologies that can reduce PFAS. It has shown clearly that there are two ways to solve PFAS which are GAC & RO.

GAC

According to a report, EPA researcher Thomas Speth looked at the effects of activated carbon (GAC) on PFAS. GAC is a common substance of filtration used by many ordinary Americans on their water filter pitchers. Speth concluded that GAC filters with the perfect condition and flow rate of the water can only filter out long-chained PFAS, but not the short-chained PFAS, and only for a while.

RO

In the report, research shows that high-pressure membranes, such as nanofiltration and reverse osmosis (RO) can also remove PFAS effectively, in which RO membranes are tighter than that nanofiltration. Research shows that they are more than 90% effective at removing PFAS, including the short-chain PFAS. According to Speth, this technology is best suited as a point of use technology for a homeowner, since the volume of treated water is smaller and the waste stream can be disposed of more easily.

The Principle of RO

Osmosis is the targeted diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane or diaphragm. Semi-permeable membranes have special properties. They are permeable to water molecules, while larger molecules, such as salt particles, cannot pass the membrane.

In osmosis, water becomes more concentrated as it passes through the membrane to obtain equilibrium on both sides. Reverse osmosis, however, blocks contaminants from entering the less concentrated side of the membrane. For example, when pressure is applied to a volume of saltwater during reverse osmosis, the salt is left behind and only clean water flows through.

What is a Perfect RO Combined of ?

General Introduction of The Product

RO membrane now is becoming a common product in our daily life, there are more than one choice for us, it helps we get fresh water at anytime. MSpure is one professional RO membrane product manufacturer who has been dedicated in this field for more than one decade. The RO technology has been applied in both industry and home water filtration.

Application of Two Fields

Industrial Product

The treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater has always been the focus and difficulty of wastewater treatment. Its main characteristics are complex organic composition, many refractory substances, high chromaticity, and large changes in water quality. At present, it is mainly treated by physicochemical treatment and biochemical treatment, but there are generally problems such as high effluent COD and low decolorization efficiency. The treated wastewater can only be discharged up to the standard, and cannot be used as process reuse water.

The use of  RO filtration system  process for municipal wastewater recycling and industrial wastewater reuse has been reported in the world and applied in practical projects. The RO process can reduce the concentration of most pollutants to an acceptable range, which can further improve the effluent quality. Most of the salt ions are removed to meet the water quality requirements of the production process.

Household Product

RO membrane can now reach at 99% filtration rate.  So it’s widely applied in air filtration system and water filtration. there are many different household types of reverse osmosis drinking water systems ,such as basic types of kitchen RO drinking systems, grand serial of box-type RO drinking systems. The RO purifier systems can effectively remove impurities, microbes, bacteria, organics, heavy metals and other harmful substances(include PFAS) in water,  provide high pure and healthy drinking water. They are benefit from the RO membrane well.

Conclusion

PFAS is common issues around us, and it became more serious for us to pay attention at. RO membrane product is the very tool we can take to protect us from it, and as a professional membrane manufacturer, we have the responsibility to make it a more efficient to solve the problem. We would like to make our life more healthy.