PFAS Environmental Testing Services

The overall environmental testing services market is booming, and PFAS contamination stands poised to become the next asbestos from a regulatory standpoint. Establishing the testing capability to meet this emerging demand is laborious and expensive. You can open a lab quickly and at a fraction of the cost with this turn-key opportunity, which promises rapid growth in the burgeoning field of PFAS testing.

There are no geographical limitations. Relocate assets to your facility and accept samples from clients across the US. Build a startup business around this key testing capability, or bolt on to your existing laboratory testing services as a growth platform with high margins and potential for quick ROI.

Why a lab-based business?

• Government mandated testing.
• Outstanding opportunity for a buyer to acquire a complete, fully functional testing system with validated test methods. State-of-the-art, sophisticated instrumentation is difficult to compete with.
• Underserved market with high growth potential.
• The system is easily relocated for a quick startup, with service contracts available from the original manufacturer.
• Clients pay for shipping their samples to you. Your ‘product’ is data, which is easily delivered to the client, i.e., no shipping costs or delays. Plus, no inventory to maintain.
• Sample analysis prices range from roughly around $300 to $900 per sample or more, depending on the test method.
• Customers prefer to deal with small laboratories that provide personalized service and fast results. There is currently minimal competition from like-sized labs.

POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH

PFAS regulations are just beginning to be enacted. As federal and state limitations are continually placed on the PFAS content in water, consumer products, etc., the demand for testing will increase.

In addition to client sample testing, the buyer can accept samples from other labs looking to outsource routine work requiring this system. Additionally, the buyer can use this system as a base instrument for an in-house environmental testing business, and further broaden the PFAS testing services that are offered by outsourcing addition test methods to third party labs.

Furthermore, the same system can be used for oil and gas product testing for chlorides and sulfur by a number of established ASTM methods, broadening and diversifying the applicability of the system beyond just PFAS testing.

CUSTOMERS

Governments, retailers, and suppliers are taking action to phase out PFAS in products and need to assure consumers that products are PFAS-free. Many states have mandated PFAS testing in products including apparel, carpets, household cleaners, cookware, firefighting foams, food packaging, children’s toys, personal care products and many others.

The US EPA has just released their long-awaited test method 1621, used for testing water sources for total PFAS content, which is expected to be enforced through the Clean Water Act and will increase the requirement for this testing even further.

ASSETS

The system was purchased in December of 2022, and the majority of its use has been to measure standards and reference samples for method development and validation, along with a number of customer samples. All samples were either water extractions using the Absorber Module, or methanol extractions / dilutions, so the combustion system has been kept clean. Metrohm installed the system at the current site and visited on a number of occasions to work out the typical minor bugs, so the system is well maintained and has had relatively minimal use.