The most common question we hear when it comes to managing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) risk is “where do I start?” The best way is through a structured, long-term, and sustainable approach that is thorough and repeatable.
With over 200 PFAS-related bills introduced across more than 30 US states in 2025 and PFAS present in everything from raw materials to finished products, knowing your current situation is the foundation of any successful risk management strategy.
Why a baseline assessment matters
The first step in any successful PFAS risk management process is knowing where you stand. This is where a PFAS baseline assessment comes in.
The PFAS baseline assessment is a flexible process designed to help identify potential PFAS risks and liabilities, prioritize them, and design mitigation measures. This structured assessment helps you:
- Identify where PFAS enter your organization.
- Understand how PFAS move through your operations.
- Determine how PFAS leave your facilities.
- Prioritize risks based on regulatory, financial, and reputational impacts.
Whether you need a preliminary screening or an in-depth audit, the process adapts to your organization's specific needs and objectives.
How PFAS enter your organization
A comprehensive baseline assessment follows PFAS through your organization's lifecycle, starting with supply chain and procurement.
Understanding what materials come into your organization and what level of PFAS they contain is often the most complex part of the assessment. It involves coordinating with multiple suppliers, managing vast amounts of data, and addressing inevitable information gaps. This is where having experienced partners who understand both PFAS chemistry and supply chain complexities becomes invaluable.
How PFAS move through your organization
Once you understand where PFAS enter your organization, the assessment process continues following those materials through whatever internal processes or standard operating procedures (SOPs) are applicable, taking note of how PFAS are specifically handled:
- Are they still on a shelf in inventory?
- Are they incorporated in whole or in part into the product being made?
- Do they get transformed into other things or remain within machinery or conveyance systems?
- Do they leave as waste at some point in the process?
The complexity of this phase depends on your operations. For example, an office environment might have a straightforward evaluation due to goods containing PFAS chemicals not being used to create any product that leaves the site, while a multi-facility manufacturer could have hundreds of processes to examine. Scoping (starting with screening-level assessments and looking deeper only where risks are significant) keeps the process manageable and cost-effective.
How PFAS leave your organization
Finally, understanding how PFAS exit your operation is essential. This includes:
- Products for sale: Are you selling into markets with PFAS restrictions? Do your products trigger reporting requirements?
- Waste streams: Do your wastewater discharges comply with permit requirements? Are your disposal facilities equipped to handle PFAS properly? Do you need to consider how Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) affects your business?
- Fugitive releases: What are your risks around site contamination, air emissions, or release reporting obligations?
Risk prioritization
The final stage of the PFAS baseline assessment is taking the data obtained and developing a preliminary risk profile. By assigning relative priorities based on regulatory requirements, worker safety, revenue impacts, costs, and brand reputation, you create a clear hierarchy of where to focus your resources.
This prioritization can be qualitative (low, medium, high, critical) or quantitative (weighted scoring systems) depending on your needs. Either way, the output gives you what you need most: a data-driven foundation for informed investment decisions.
