Clean Harbors, Inc. introduced its ?Total PFAS Solution? to address all the needs of customers related to PFAS (per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances), which are commonly referred to as forever chemicals. Clean Harbors?

Total PFAS Solution is the industry?s first and only one-stop-shop consisting of eight core elements and providing customers with a range of services from analysis to remediation to disposal. PFAS compounds have been manufactured in the U.S. since the 1930s and became a primary ingredient in nonstick and waterproof coatings. After several decades, development and usage of PFAS greatly expanded with wide-ranging applications, including nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpeting, grease-resistant food packaging, corrosive-resistant pipes and wires, and eventually AFFF that became the gold standard for fighting chemical fires for more than 50 years.

Before scientists and health organizations recognized the potential for adverse impacts on humans and animals, PFAS became ubiquitous around the planet. Eventually, the detrimental health effects of certain categories of PFAS became clear. There has been a strong linkage of PFAS to cancer rates, birth defects and other medical conditions.

Addressing PFAS contaminants in various media became a major focus of regulatory authorities across the country. While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yet officially labeled PFAS in all of its many forms as hazardous, the Agency did work with major manufacturers between 2000-2006 to obtain commitments to phase out the production of two forms of PFAS ? PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctyl sulfonate) ?

due to health concerns. As of 2015, the manufacture of PFOA and PFOS in the U.S. had largely ceased. In addition, several U.S. states have already begun regulating PFAS in different media, including drinking water, soil, groundwater, and in air emissions.

The results of the Company?s 2021 testing demonstrated that common legacy and replacement PFAS ? including PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and Gen-X PFAS ? are efficiently and effectively destroyed in Clean Harbors?

high-temperature thermal destruction units at levels exceeding 99.9999% of destruction. Achieving destruction of greater than 99.9999% is equivalent to demonstrating that for every million mass units of a compound introduced into the incinerator, less than one mass unit is detected at the stack. Under the testing conditions, not only were the PFAS compounds sufficiently destroyed, but ambient concentrations from stack emissions were orders of magnitude safer than any state or federal ambient air limit guideline in effect.