Illinois environmentalists again push for the state to ban burning of toxic PFAS

[Sherman A1]

Environmental groups in Illinois are again pushing for state lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban the incineration of a toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS.

This comes after the Illinois House and Senate both unanimously passed a nearly identical bill last year, before Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed it.

“We thought a unanimous vote in both houses was a sign that we were on the right road,” said Sonya Lunder, the Sierra Club’s senior toxics policy adviser, who was involved in the development of the bill.

PFAS refers broadly to thousands of synthetic chemicals found in common household products like nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing and stain repellent for carpet. It’s also one of the main components of many firefighting foams stored at municipal and military installations.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2022-01-16/illinois-environmentalists-again-push-for-the-state-to-ban-burning-of-toxic-pfas

[ProfessorGAC]

1. The Concern Is Warranted

However, I would consider the public health risks to be even greater than the environmental risks.
Incineration creates carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide & hydrogen fluoride. CO is readily oxidized over a palladium catalysts to CO2.
But, HF is a highly toxic, very aggressive acid.
It can be scrubbed in a counterflow KOH absorber, but controls have to be well interlocked. The correct amount of HF passing through the scrubber is NONE!
I'd want more detail on how the incinerator system is designed, the control architecture, redundancies, and interlocks before I would think this is a good idea.