“PFAS Select” Interreg Research Project Successfully Launched

Cross-border collaboration on forever chemicals in water bodies

More and more details are emerging about so-called PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), also known as “forever chemicals.” This group of artificially produced and widely used chemicals is classified as uPBT substances – ubiquitous, persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic – posing a serious threat to humans and ecosystems. These substances are already a reality in our lives: concentrations exceeding the health guideline values have been detected in 14.3% of blood samples from European adolescents. PFAS can lead to health disorders affecting multiple organs, immune deficiencies, obesity, fertility problems, and cancer in humans and other organisms.

The European Union aims, in accordance with the Green Deal, to reduce the exposure of humans and ecosystems to PFAS through a range of measures, such as the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the Regulation on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the REACH Regulation, the Drinking Water Directive, and updates to environmental quality standards and the Groundwater Directive. In particular, entry into the environment via contaminated process and wastewater, as well as uptake through contaminated groundwater and drinking water, must be prevented. The cross-border nature of environmental issues and water bodies like the River Inn makes international cooperation essential.

This is the focus of the research project “PFAS Select,” funded under the Interreg Bavaria–Austria program, which aims to investigate methods that use highly specialized binding materials to remove harmful molecules from water in a timely manner. Current treatment and remediation methods, such as adsorption onto activated carbon, are inefficient for certain PFAS (especially short-chain types) and problematic when competing substances such as dissolved organic matter and anions (e.g. chloride and sulphate) are present. Furthermore, even the much-praised activated carbon is only limitedly regenerable, making it a fossil-based single-use product.

The research team at MCI, led by Jan Back, is developing highly efficient, highly selective, and regenerable ion exchange materials based on perfluoroalkyl chains, in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck, the Technical University of Munich, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, and the companies WATERPlus Technik and IonOXess. These materials aim to employ a dual separation mechanism that synergistically combines electrostatic and fluorophilic interactions. The research work aims to compare these new materials with commercially available ones like activated carbon and ion exchangers, to characterize them, and to develop and simulate process engineering solutions.

Numerous steps will be carried out as part of the project:

• Hydraulically optimized granulates will be produced, and the most promising materials will be scaled up in pilot trials to industrial scale.
• The high-performance resins will be regenerated through elution.
• A high-performance PFAS analytics system will be established.
• Pilot sites on both sides of the program area will be selected, and pilot plants will be developed, built, and operated.

The project, which will run from 01/04/2025 to 31/03/2028, aims to raise awareness on the PFAS issue among both professionals and the general public and to present available solutions.