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2025: 4th PFAS symposium

4th EnvironChemTox (MCT) symposium

‘Environmental occurrence, hazard and risk of PFASs’

With keynote by Professor Hans Peter Arp
(Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute)

When: Thursday 25th September 2025

Where: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Auditorium O|2 Building, De Boelelaan 1108, Amsterdam

Organizing committee:
Kees van Gestel (VU; NWO/TTW-project 187125)
Ayesha Siddiqa (WUR)
Thimo Groffen (University of Antwerp)
Stefan van Leeuwen (WFSR and KNCV-Section MCT)

Programme
09:00-09:30 Arrival, registration, coffee
09:30-09:35 Opening, introduction to the symposium programme
09:35-10:15 Confronting the growing threat of TFA and other persistent and mobile substances in food and water resources.
Keynote lecture: Hans Peter Arp  (Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Norway)
10:15-10:30

Poster spotlights

  • Assessing the added value of the TOP assay and AOF in water management. Elvio Amato, KWR, Nieuwegein, Netherlands
  • Bridging TOP assay and non-target analysis to expand PFAS coverage in contaminated soil. Francesca Cappelli, University of Antwerp, Belgium
  • Comprehensive analysis uncovers unknown PFASs in contaminated freshwater fish using nontargeted screening. Bas van Dijk, Wageningen Food Safety Research, Netherlands
  • Monitoring the spatial distribution, the ecotoxicological effect and the fingerprint of wide-spread PFAS pollution in Willebroek, Flanders, within the LIFE PFASTER project. Eva Houben, Flemish Environmental Agency (VMM). Belgium.
10:30-11:00 Coffee+ Posters
Topic 1: Environmental monitoring and analytical issues
11:00-11:20 A robust and sensitive method for routine analysis of 40 PFAS compounds in surface water using the SCIEX 7500 system
Liesel Claeys (Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, Belgium)
11:20-11:40 High-resolution mass spectrometry-based suspect and non-target screening for characterization of PFAS contamination in soils near a fluorochemical plant in Flanders
Oliver Salangad (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
11:40-12:00 Combining (bio)analytical techniques to identify bioactive substances in the water cycle
Jaimy de Schepper (Het Waterlaboratorium, Haarlem, Netherlands)
12:00-12:15

Poster spotlights

  • Growing clean: Exploring sustainable phytoremediation for PFAS-impacted environments. Dirk Dubin, Bio2Clean, Hasselt, Belgium
  • Multi-Generational Reproductive Effects of PFOS on Daphnia pulex. Ayesha Siddiqa, Wageningen University, Netherlands
  • Risk assessment of airborne PFAS exposure in a water treatment facility – A case study from Sweden. Karin Norrfors, Kemakta Konsult, Stockholm. Sweden
12:15-14:00 Lunch + Posters
Topic 2: Environmental fate and bioaccumulation, incl. uptake in food chain
14:00-14:20 Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances at different trophic levels in the food web of a polluted ecosystem
Ioanna Gkika (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
14:20-14:40 Can bird faeces be used as an alternative biomonitoring matrix for monitoring PFAS in plasma and feather samples of a small songbird (Parus major)?
Jodie Buytaert (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
14:40-15:00 Distribution of PFAS in chickens and eggs from a contaminated region
Chaymae El Amraoui Aarab (Sciensano,Brussels, Belgium)
Topic 3: Ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment
15:00-15:20 Mechanism-based PFAS toxicology: Integrating OMICs, histology and transgenic zebrafish models for next-generation risk assessment of PFAS
Tim Benad (Heidelberg University, Germany)
15:20-15:40 Understanding how PFAS harm environmental health: over generations, in mixtures, and through predictive modelling
Skylar Xie (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)
15:40-16:00 Deriving atmospheric deposition threshold values for PFOS and PFBA in Flanders
Arno Vanderbeke (VITO, Mol, Belgium)
16:00-18:00 Closing of meeting; Drinks + posters

 

Posters:

See above for posters also presented as poster spotlights

  1. Advanced ultra-short-chain PFAS analysis using – unexpectedly – reversed phase chromatography. Ruben Kause, Wageningen Food Safety Research, Netherlands.
  2. Method development for analysis of legacy and precursor PFAS in fish samples. Ling Chen, Wageningen University, Netherlands.
  3. Measuring PFASs at low ppt-level in milk: development and validation of a matrix effect-free, highly sensitive method using liquid-liquid extraction with LC-MS/MS. Nick van Eijndhoven, Wageningen Food Safety Research, Netherlands
  4. Modeling the behavior and environmental fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: sorption dynamics under variable soil chemistry. Michael Deligiannis, Wageningen Environmental Research, Netherlands.
  5. Experimental determination of Kd/KOC values for PFAS in Flemish soils. Ward Swinnen, OVAM, Mechelen, Belgium
  6. Assessment of the bio-accumulation, translocation, and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in terrestrial plants. Frouke Decat, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
  7. Organ specific distribution of PFAS in wild rodents: Investigating the internal bioaccumulation patterns. Görkem Deniz Kendir, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
  8. Multigeneration responses of Folsomia candida to short chain per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS). Skylar Xie, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  9. Membrane-water partition coefficients of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): a promising descriptor of bioaccumulation and toxicity. Skylar Xie, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Arp_Ottawa

Hans Peter H. Arp, NGI, is an environmental chemist interested in how fundamental aspects of physical chemistry can be utilized as applied tools for understanding and preventing pollution exposure. His projects focus on designing solutions through policy mechanisms, chemical properties, interdisciplinary collaboration, and sustainable technologies to enable the circular economy and help create a zero-pollution society. He holds a PhD from ETH Zürich (2008) and a professorship at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (since 2018). He is an Associate Editor for the journal Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (since 2024).

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