The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently began requiring wastewater treatment plants that land apply biosolids to have PFAS laboratory testing performed prior to the land application. The EGLE Water Resources Division started sending out notifications about this new program to affected parties this year.

Merit Laboratories provides analytical laboratory testing for PFAS in biosolids sample matrices to support its wastewater clients meet their regulatory requirement obligations. Biosolids are a challenging sample matrix to analyze with unique complexities, which Merit Laboratories resolved by developing a proprietary analytical technique. Merit Laboratories performs the analysis of PFAS in biosolids using ASTM D7968-17, a Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) with Isotopic Dilution method. The PFAS list includes those on the MPART PFAS Minimum Laboratory Analyze List (currently 28 compounds). Per the EGLE guidelines, Merit Laboratories analyzes biosolids as solids and reports results on a dry weight basis.

According to the EGLE, the implementation of these measures is part of a strategy to mitigate risk to public health and the environment from potential adverse effects of PFAS. It is being implemented as part of EGLE’s interim strategy to evaluate and reduce PFAS in biosolids that that are land-applied in Michigan, The Interim Strategy for Land Application of Biosolids Containing PFAS, Water Resources Guidance.

Merit Laboratories is a leading national PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices, including biosolids and sludge. Analytical methods performed by Merit for PFAS include drinking water by EPA 533, EPA 537.1, and EPA 537 rev. 1.1 and soil, wastewater, groundwater, and surface water by ASTM D7979-19 with Isotopic Dilution and ASTM D7968-17.