Developing a comprehensive management approach to PFAS - The London NERC DTP

A rare opportunity to apply for a 4 year fully funded research studentship via The London NERC DTP has arisen, to start in September 2024 at Brunel University London. To find out more, please visit The London NERC Doctoral Training Partnership website

Developing a comprehensive management approach to PFAS 

Outline of proposed project:

The widespread use and prolonged environmental persistence of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have led to their ubiquitous detection in waterbodies worldwide. These “forever chemicals” are found in everyday consumer goods (from textiles and cleaning products to cookware) and therefore, wastewater serves as a major pathway through which PFAS enter aquatic environments. Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have low removal efficiencies for PFAS, while in many cases, higher PFAS concentrations are reported in the effluents than in the influents. Advanced treatment processes are more effective at removing PFAS compared to conventional methods; however, they come at much higher costs, increased operational carbon emissions, and varying effectiveness in removing PFAS precursor compounds. At the same time, residential drinking water is a primary source of human exposure to PFAS as drinking water treatment technologies or water blending techniques do not eliminate these chemicals. The costs of cleaning up wastewater and drinking water contaminated with PFAS are borne by water companies, which also lose important revenue streams due to the disposal of sludge contaminated by PFAS to landfills at increasing landfill tax rates. Ultimately, these costs are passed onto customers or taxpayers who routinely and disproportionately experience the long-term costs of exposure to PFAS and environmental degradation. Therefore,the overall aim of this PhD project is to develop a comprehensive PFAS management approach that will decouple the urban water cycle from PFAS inputs.

This project will offer a challenging, collaborative and transdisciplinary opportunity for an excellent PhD candidate to work at the forefront of this exciting area with a leading academic team at Brunel University London within the Centre for Pollution Research and Policy. For informal discussions concerning the project, please contact Dr Theodoros Giakoumis (Primary supervisor) at theodoros.giakoumis@brunel.ac.uk and Dr Eleni Iacovidou (Secondary supervisor) at eleni.Iacovidou@brunel.ac.uk.

References

Wee, S. Y., & Aris, A. Z. (2023). Revisiting the “forever chemicals”, PFOA and PFOS exposure in drinking water. In npj Clean Water (Vol. 6, Issue 1). Nature Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-023-00274-6

Cordner, A., Goldenman, G., Birnbaum, L. S., Brown, P., Miller, M. F., Mueller, R., Patton, S., Salvatore, D. H., & Trasande, L. (2021). The True Cost of PFAS and the Benefits of Acting Now. In Environmental Science and Technology (Vol. 55, Issue 14, pp. 9630–9633). American Chemical Society. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03565

Giakoumis, T., Vaghela, C., & Voulvoulis, N. (2020). The role of water reuse in the circular economy. In Advances in Chemical Pollution, Environmental Management and Protection (Vol. 5). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.apmp.2020.07.013

Gerassimidou, S., Geueke, B., Groh, K. J., Muncke, J., Hahladakis, J. N., Martin, O. V., & Iacovidou, E. (2023). Unpacking the complexity of the polyethylene food contact articles value chain: A chemicals perspective. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 454, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131422

Kortenkamp, A., Martin, O., Iacovidou, E., & Scholze, M. (2024). Drivers of divergent assessments of bisphenol-A hazards to semen quality by various European agencies, regulators and scientists. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 255, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114293

Eligibility

Application process

Applicants are expected to have a 2:1 or higher or equivalent qualification or work experience in chemistry, material science or environmental science. A masters qualification in a relevant area, including environmental engineering or environmental economics would be desirable. Knowledge of programming and statistical analysis ideally with research experience is also desirable.

All of our studentships are open to students who qualify for NERC awards and EU nationals. Please ensure you meet the eligibility and residency criteria before you make an application. Further details can be found in the terms and conditions for research grants – UKRI

Residency criteria:

To be eligible to apply to the London NERC DTP, a student must meet one of the following two sets of criteria:

UK Residents eligible for UKRI funding

• Settled status in the UK, meaning they have no restrictions on how long they can stay and;
• Been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of the studentship. This means they must have been normally residing in the UK (apart from temporary or occasional absences) and;
• Not been residing in the UK wholly or mainly for the purpose of full-time education. (This does not apply to UK or EU nationals – EU nationals who have been in the UK for full time study for the past 3 years or more, do qualify for a full award);

All students will undertake an intensive programme of interdisciplinary core research and professional development training in the autumn and spring terms

How to apply

Submission of documents:

All applicants will be required to submit 

1. CV
2. 2-page cover letter outlining your suitability for this proposed project
3. English Language certification for students from outside the UK
4. Certificates and transcripts of both degrees if applicable
5. 2 academic references

Only references received from valid institutional email addresses will be accepted. Any responses received from non-accredited email accounts, such as hotmail, gmail etc., will not be considered.

Please submit your applications to emma.smith@brunel.ac.uk by no later than 12noon on  Monday, 17 June 2024.