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PFAS in Environmental Risk Assessment: Emerging Challenges and Approaches
Phil Rooney is Director of Chemistry at Smithers Environmental Risk Sciences in the UK, where he leads the technical operations of the Chemistry department and ensures full GLP compliance across studies. With deep expertise in environmental risk assessment for agrochemicals, veterinary medicines, pharmaceuticals and REACH regulated chemicals, he oversees departmental strategy, performance and growth. Phil combines scientific leadership with strong commercial insight, driving efficiency, quality and continuous improvement while fostering a collaborative, supportive team culture.
The global PFAS landscape has accelerated dramatically in recent years.
The EU PFAS Restriction has advanced into its final stages; the US EPA has introduced enforceable drinking water limits and expanded TSCA reporting obligations, and Asia-Pacific regulators have strengthened monitoring and disclosure requirements. Analytical expectations have also evolved, with total fluorine accounting, non-targeted analysis (NTA), and transformation product identification now routinely requested by authorities. For crop protection products in particular, scrutiny of fluorinated metabolites such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) has intensified, driving the need for robust, defensible analytical and environmental fate data.
Here, Smithers Environmental Risk Sciences Phil Rooney deep dives into the key issues…
Navigating the complexity of persistent and emerging environmental contaminants increasingly requires a holistic understanding of substance behaviour, particularly in relation to persistence (P), bioaccumulation (B), and toxicity (T). Recent work across the sector has focused heavily on the growing regulatory and scientific challenges posed by per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), including PFOA, PFHxS, and potential trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and other CF₃ containing metabolites, as part of broader environmental risk assessment efforts.
These substances, defined by their strong fluorinated carbon bonds, remain among the most challenging compounds to extract, quantify, and interpret, especially within complex environmental and biological matrices. As analytical technologies evolve, organisations with long-standing experience in advanced instrumentation are increasingly called upon to interpret the scientific and regulatory intricacies associated with fluorinated compounds.
A multidisciplinary approach is becoming essential. Insights from material science, analytical chemistry, environmental fate and metabolism, ecotoxicology, and regulatory science are often combined to move beyond simple detection. The aim is to generate data that supports real world decision making, enabling a clearer understanding of the presence, persistence, and transformation of PFAS and related compounds, as well as their potential environmental and regulatory implications.
From physical chemical properties to partitioning behaviour in water and soil, laboratories need to refine methods to extract and analyse PFAS and their transformation products with greater sensitivity, selectivity, and reliability. Analytical scientists must continue to adapt and validate methods for challenging matrices, drawing on technologies such as high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC MS/MS), and isotope dilution techniques.
How can Smithers support clients with PFAS testing?
Smithers Environmental Risk Sciences understands the importance of distinguishing parent compounds from their degradation products and metabolites especially when regulatory authorities demand clarity on total fluorine content, mass balance, and transformation pathways. Regulatory authorities increasingly require total fluorine accounting and non-targeted screening to complement targeted PFAS analysis, making advanced HRMS workflows essential for demonstrating mass balance and identifying unknown transformation products.
However, it’s not just about what we can detect, it’s about what the data means. The regulatory landscape surrounding PFAS is rapidly evolving, with authorities worldwide moving towards tighter restrictions lower thresholds, and broader screening requirements (Stockholm Convention, 2023).
Since 2024, the EU PFAS Restriction has progressed significantly, with clearer timelines, transitional arrangements, and expanded monitoring obligations that directly affect industrial chemicals, crop protection products, and polymeric PFAS precursors.
Meanwhile, the US has prioritised the focus on legislation enforcing federal drinking water limits and expanded TSCA reporting obligations that have accelerated the need for robust PFAS analytical strategies, including Total Organic Fluorine (TOF) and non-targeted screening approaches to determine Total Oxidisable Precursors (TOP).
Across Asia-Pacific, regulators are rapidly aligning with EU and US expectations, with China, Japan, and South Korea introducing new PFAS monitoring and reporting obligations that affect global supply chains.
Smithers supports clients with clear interpretation of complex data, guidance on regulatory expectations, and proactive strategies for dossier preparation, risk mitigation, and compliance under frameworks such as REACH, CLP, the EU Water Framework Directive, and emerging global regulations.
What truly sets us apart is our integrated support model, bringing together chemists, risk assessors, and regulatory experts to form a seamless extension of your team. Anticipating regulatory scrutiny, guiding the design of fit-for-purpose studies, and providing full lifecycle support from initial method development and data generation to dossier submission and post-submission engagement with regulatory authorities, is part of our core service model.
Clients choose Smithers because we don’t just deliver results, we deliver confidence. Confidence that analysis meets the highest technical standards. Confidence that your data will stand up to regulatory review. And confidence that you have a partner who understands not only the science behind fluorinated molecules, but also the business and compliance risks they pose.
With many jurisdictions adopting class-based PFAS policies, companies must now demonstrate the absence of both intentionally added and unintentional PFAS, increasing the importance of sensitive screening and supply-chain verification.
In an era where transparency and regulatory compliance are more critical than ever, partnering with Smithers will empower you to face the PFAS challenge head-on armed with data you can trust and expertise you can count on.
Smithers experts would be happy to discuss your testing needs — please contact Phil Rooney