Standards and accreditation
The standards that matter.
Compliance, procurement, and credibility all run on standards. Here is the landscape that applies to PFAS, by domain: what each one is, and who it matters to.
Firefighting foam
MIL-PRF-32725 ↗
The U.S. Department of Defense performance spec for fluorine-free foam (F3), land based, fresh water. Products that pass are listed on the Qualified Products List (QPL).
Matters to: Military, Part 139 airports (the FAA accepts QPL products), foam buyers.
MIL-PRF-24385 ↗
The legacy DoD spec for fluorinated AFFF. Still the shipboard procurement standard, since F3 is not yet a saltwater drop in.
Matters to: Navy and shipboard procurement.
NFPA 11 ↗
Standard for low, medium, and high expansion foam fire suppression systems.
Matters to: Fire protection engineers, facility and tank farm operators.
NFPA 18 ↗
Standard on wetting agents (relevant to some Class A and bio-based agents).
Matters to: Departments evaluating wetting agents.
EN 1568 ↗
The European test standard for firefighting foam concentrates (Parts 1 to 4 cover fresh and sea water, hydrocarbon and alcohol resistant performance).
Matters to: International and aviation foam buyers.
UL 162 ↗
Underwriters Laboratories standard for foam equipment and concentrate listing, including application rate.
Matters to: Specifiers and AHJs in North America.
ICAO Level B / C ↗
International civil aviation foam performance levels for aircraft rescue and firefighting.
Matters to: Airports and ARFF.
GreenScreen Certified ↗
An independent hazard screen for firefighting foam; a marker of a genuinely safer formulation, separate from fire performance.
Matters to: Buyers weighing toxicity, states and procurement.
Water treatment
EPA Best Available Technology ↗
EPA names granular activated carbon, anion exchange, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration as BAT for meeting the 2024 PFAS drinking-water limits.
Matters to: Water utilities and engineers.
NSF/ANSI 53 & 58 ↗
Certification standards for drinking-water treatment units, including PFOA and PFOS reduction claims (53 for filtration, 58 for reverse osmosis).
Matters to: Point of use and point of entry buyers, utilities.
NSF/ANSI 61 ↗
Health-effects certification for materials and components in contact with drinking water.
Matters to: Utilities specifying treatment equipment.
Laboratory and analytical
EPA Method 1633 / 1633A ↗
The reference method for 40 PFAS in water, soil, biosolids, and tissue by isotope dilution LC-MS/MS. The basis for compliance grade data.
Matters to: Laboratories, utilities, site owners, regulators.
ISO/IEC 17025 ↗
The international accreditation for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The baseline for defensible PFAS data.
Matters to: Anyone commissioning or relying on PFAS analysis.
DoD ELAP / QSM ↗
The Department of Defense Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program and Quality Systems Manual, required for defense site data.
Matters to: Labs and contractors on military PFAS sites.
Destruction and emissions
EPA Interim Guidance on Destruction and Disposal ↗
EPA's guidance on managing PFAS waste, covering thermal destruction, landfills, and underground injection, and the spent media that separation produces.
Matters to: Operators, generators, and regulators.
EPA OTM-45 and OTM-50 ↗
Other Test Methods for measuring PFAS in stack and air emissions, central to whether incineration actually destroys PFAS rather than dispersing it.
Matters to: Thermal operators, air permitting, communities.