PFAS in air: A practical toolkit for real-world applications

As focus expands beyond water and soil, laboratories face an urgent need to monitor volatile PFAS in air and consumer products, driving demand for robust, flexible analytical workflows capable of addressing an increasingly broad range of volatile and semi-volatile fluorinated compounds in air.

In this session, industry experts from Markes present a comprehensive, end-to-end integrated sampling and analysis toolkit for these emerging applications in air and materials.

Case studies will include industrial applications such as the characterisation of products of incomplete destruction (PIDs) associated with PFAS remediation and thermal treatment processes, aligned with US EPA OTM-50 methodologies, stack emissions and landfill gas. In addition, ambient air monitoring for environmental impact assessment will be discussed with relation to developing CEN practices.

Indoor air applications will also be covered in the context of human health concerns, with reference to ASTM D8560 and ASTM D8591, demonstrating approaches for assessing PFAS emissions in occupied spaces. Additional examples will explore PFAS emissions from consumer materials within the home and food contact materials.

Emerging approaches for total fluorine screening and non-targeted PFAS analysis will also be introduced, addressing the need to identify unknown or novel fluorinated compounds beyond conventional targeted lists.

Learning objectives

• Demonstration of compliant workflows spanning sample collection, introduction, pre-concentration, separation, detection, and data interpretation
• Learn how to assess PFAS off-gassing from consumer goods and food contact materials.
  Strategies for characterising Products of Incomplete Destruction (PIDs), stack emissions and landfill gas emissions.
• Approaches for total fluorine screening and identifying novel PFAS beyond the standard lists.

Who should attend?

• Environmental consultants, testing laboratories, and regulators seeking practical, end-to-end workflows to support evolving PFAS standards, guidance, and regulatory requirements.
• Researchers and industry professionals working in PFAS remediation, product stewardship, materials development, or exposure assessment who need flexible tools for both targeted and non-targeted PFAS analysis. 

Presenters

Caroline Widdowson
Director of Scientific Affairs

Dr Caroline Widdowson is a specialist in the sampling and analysis of trace-level volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds in solids, liquids and gases. She holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry and an MBA. 

Caroline works closely with international standards organisations, regulators and scientific groups, supporting countries in the development of practical and reliable sampling and analytical methods. She is Chair of the UK national standards committee (BSI) for Indoor Air Quality and Convenor of ISO committee working groups which develop international standards for the measurement of VOCs in ambient, indoor and in-vehicle air.

Aaron Davies
Channel Marketing Manager

Dr. Aaron Davies holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cardiff and Monash Universities and brings extensive industrial experience as a Process and Product Development Chemist and GC–MS Product Specialist. In his current role as Channel Marketing Manager at Markes, Aaron focuses on his passion for thermal desorption, working closely with customers and channels to simplify sample preparation and optimize analytical methods.