Alberta – FREDsense Technologies Corp., the leader in field-ready water testing kits that detect chemicals in drinking and wastewater, announced today that their platform can detect and measure PFAS in just hours, compared to traditional methods.
PFAS lab testing takes 4-8 weeks, hundreds to thousands of dollars, and requires a complex supply chain involving potential refrigeration and hold times that are difficult to manage. FREDsense’s rapid detection and measurement capability allows timely data and decision making for treatment assessment and optimization, bringing improved health and economic benefits.
PFAS, or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a set of complex synthetic compounds with severe health impacts that are prompting new regulatory thresholds at historically low levels—as low as part per trillion. These compounds have been found in 3,000+ contaminated sites and in multiple watersheds across the U.S., which is causing industry and water utilities to take immediate action. In response to quickly evolving regulations at both state and federal levels, the need for PFAS investigation, treatment, and monitoring is dramatically increasing.
The complexity, cost, and time for analysis, along with long delays in receiving lab data have been industry-wide challenges which have severely limited the ability to optimize PFAS mitigation. Many sites are using concentration technologies and newly developed, on-site destruction technologies, all of which need real-time analytics information to optimize the process. A portable, field-based analyzer for PFAS has the potential to dramatically increase the speed of analysis and create the much-needed datasets to support efficient decision making with the goal of protecting those affected by PFAS.
The presence of PFAS in the environment has the potential to affect everyone,” said David Lloyd, co-founder and chief executive officer of FREDsense. “The health impacts of these compounds are creating water security risks. The cost and time required by current analytical techniques are a bottleneck for mitigation. We need better, faster and easier tools to empower communities and solution providers to understand and solve these issues. This is why our sensor platform is such an important part of the solution. We are looking forward to working with partners to commercialize the system,” he added.
FREDsense builds electrochemical systems for trace detection of contaminants. With an already existing solution for arsenic and other contaminants in the market and a platform technology which can be readily customized for various applications, the company is poised to quickly deliver on new target monitoring solutions for the industry. The new FRED-PFAS system will integrate a PFAS-responsive biosensor solution into FREDsense’s field-based platform for rapid measurement. FREDsense’s patented electrochemical technology is uniquely suited to monitor very low concentrations of contaminants, making it ideal for PFAS monitoring. FRED-PFAS will be a scalable and customizable solution to enable field monitoring of PFAS for anyone, anywhere. The company plans to deliver the system as a consumable grab sample field kit, meaning the solution can be deployed in a mobile way across sites and potential areas of concern.
Along with the PFAS sensor, FREDsense is developing various other sensors, making their “Field Ready Electrochemical Detector” an ideal platform to solve water quality issues.
