Our technologies
In order to evaluate and identify the mechanisms of action and the lifecycle of this class of persistent contaminants, SCENARIOS will use a crosstoxicological approach that includes the study of human and environmental safety by using molecular systems biology, toxicogenomics and phenotypic screening, supported by bioinformatics and cheminformatics.
In order to develop, use and demonstrate such an integrated set of solutions, the following specific objectives have been identified.
Smart detection of PFAS
Implementing a fast, low-cost and accurate determination of PFAS to allow inexpensive widescale
measurement and (bio)monitoring of PFAS congeners in any environmental and biological sample.
Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) for PFAS
Expanding the ERA framework of non-regulated PFAS and congener mixtures on a long-term scale, implementing a
specific class of IATA for PFAS.
Innovation for PFAS remediation
Development and implementation of an integrated engineering and biological
remediation strategy for cleaning PFAS-contaminated environmental compartments, so as to eventually improve their
potential ecosystem service (e.g., soil biodiversity for soil fertility).
SCENARIOS Decision Support System
Read more
The SCENARIOS Decision Support System brings those judgements into a single web platform, built on the data and the technologies the project produced. It works in three parts: site prioritisation, which ranks sites by remediation urgency; remediation technology selection, which identifies and ranks the treatment options suited to a given site; and thresholds and legislation, which interprets the PFAS limits currently in force.
The ranking is not a black box. The system first sets aside the technologies that cannot work on the site’s matrix and contamination, then weighs the remaining criteria according to the priorities the user sets, ranks the options against an ideal reference, and finally penalises any option that would not meet the applicable regulatory limits.
Developed by the University of Salento within SCENARIOS, the system is a working prototype delivered as a web application.