PFAS Treatment in Aqueous Matrices: A Critical Review of Mature Processes, Integrated Treatment Trains, and Residual Management

PFASs have emerged as contaminants of significant concern, drawing increasing attention from scientists, regulators, and industries worldwide. The presence of PFASs in effluents is described in terms of the following: (i) the quantity of PFASs in PFAS synthesis plants and in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, assessed by considering their production volumes and their presence and distribution in effluents, as well as their purification or recovery using dedicated systems within the plants, and (ii) the types of industries using PFASs, such as the semiconductor manufacturing by photolithography, electroplating baths for chromium plating of metals, water-repellent treatments for paper, leather, and textiles, and the formulation of numerous products. This review provides a structured overview of operational and mature treatment processes of waters or effluents containing PFASs. Indeed, conventional water treatment technologies capable of removing PFASs are already commercially available. These include adsorption using granular activated carbon, Anion Exchange Resins, and high-pressure membrane filtration. However, these are separation-based processes that are primarily effective for long-chain PFASs and generate waste streams highly concentrated in PFASs. Currently, the only large-scale option for destructive treatment of PFASs in liquid, solid and possibly gaseous matrices is thermal decomposition in hazardous waste incinerators dedicated to the incineration of halogenated hazardous waste. The review will describe and provide an overview of the performances and operating conditions of all of these processes. It will finally technically, economically, and environmentally compare all the processes (alone and in combination) and open research perspectives in the field.