A new PFAS research center in collaboration between DTU, KU, SDU and AU is set to look into the about more than 10,000 chemical substances in PFAS, many of which are problematic because they do not break down in nature and can accumulate in humans and animals.

The PFAS center will conduct research in the areas of environment, food, and health, as well as provide knowledge to the Ministry of Environment and advise authorities and politicians on concrete solutions and strategies for preventing, containing, and remediating PFAS contamination.

- We need a deeper understanding so that we can be sure that the solutions we propose are long-term and that society is making the right investments. The environment is full of PFAS, and the problem is so great that we cannot clean everything up. In order to prioritize the effort, we are looking into a number of research areas and assisting the authorities in handling the acute problems – for example, that we currently have 3,000 old landfills in Denmark from which PFAS seeps into the environment, says head of the new PFAS center Anders Baun, a professor at DTU Sustain.

The PFAS center is financed with a grant of DKK 44 million from the Ministry of Environment and will support the national PFAS action plan, which a majority in the Danish Parliament adopted in 2024.

In the course of 2025 the PFAS center plans to launch nine research projects spanning from:

• Emissions of PFAS from waste treatment plants.
• Development of new methods for describing and mitigating soil, groundwater, and drinking water contamination.
• Sustainable PFAS-free alternatives in, for example, the green transition.
• Analytical-chemical development of methods for potentially overlooked PFAS.
• Uptake of PFAS in animals and crops.
• Occurrence of PFAS in feed and food.
• Health effects of PFAS.

Research projects launched in 2025 will be fully funded by the PFAS center. Subsequently, the ambition is that the center in 2026 and 2027 is going to co-finance research efforts and knowledge building in Denmark.

DTU is responsible for the center's administration and daily operation, but the four collaborating universities will all have representatives on the management board. From AU, Deputy Head of Department at the Department of Ecoscience, John Jensen, and Professor Katrin Vorkamp from the Department of Environmental Science will participate.

Together with the rest of the center management, and a steering group from the involved authorities, their task will be to select research projects to be carried out under the center's auspices regarding PFAS impact on the environment, food, and health, says John Jensen.

- Our task will be to ensure that the research groups that have relevant expertise in PFAS can have their projects supported. Initially, for example, we are planning, together with AU's animal researchers at the Department of Animal Science, to look into the uptake and distribution of PFAS in pigs.

- Another project in the pipeline from the Department of Environmental Science is about developing new analytical tools for mapping the complex PFAS mixtures that are out there, while other projects focus more on technological solutions to remove PFAS.

In addition to providing research-based knowledge and advice, the PFAS center's mission is to contribute to both public information and to advise the authorities. The PFAS center will coordinate the research effort and competence building across the four partner universities and further into the relevant Danish knowledge environments. The coordination also includes the involvement of international researchers and experts.

The PFAS center is fully funded until 2028, and in addition to the national effort, Denmark, together with four other EU countries, is working towards a comprehensive ban on the use of PFAS throughout the EU.

This story is based on a press release from DTU and the Ministry of Environment.