I-Corps: Development of a Business Model for a Rapid Screening Test for PFCs

Hope College, Holland MI

Investigators

Abstract

Per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in consumer products have come under increasing scrutiny recently, because of their persistence in the environment and their ability to bioaccumulate. Clearly, this is an emerging chemical class of concern, and efforts have begun to monitor its prevalence in both the environment and in human exposure pathways. Generally PFCs are used in stain- or water-resistant applications, such as outdoor clothing, food packaging, and non-stick coatings on carpets and upholstery, although new PFCs are becoming prevalent in cosmetics and low-odor paints. Current analytical methods for measuring PFCs involve solvent extraction, liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for about 70 different known PFC telomers. These tests are costly (on the order of $1000 per sample in commercial testing labs. This project proposes a novel method that has been developed for screening for the presence of PFCs in a rapid, non-destructive way that can be used to measure the total fluorine present in any type of solid sample. The team's proposed method (Particle-Induced Gamma-ray Emission) has been demonstrated to detect total fluorine content on a variety of matrices (food-wrapping papers, textiles, carpets, etc.) at nearly 1/20th of the cost. This effort represents the commercialization of an analytical method in nuclear physics applied to consumer products and environmental samples. The adaption of analytical methods to best serve a commercial role in society is the primary intellectual merit of this proposal. The model developed here will be as unique as the analytical method already developed, and may serve as a model for future spin-off technologies. The proposed tool can revolutionize the testing industry with respect to testing for PFCs in consumer products and environmental samples. Optimizing this model will allow for the best price reduction in analytical costs for PFC detection, and will allow more manufacturers, retailers, regulatory agencies and consumer groups to test for PFCs that represent a risk to human health.