Highlights:
- Federal enforcement of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in drinking water regulations is imminent
- The water treatment sector is desperate for effective, economical solutions to remove PFAS from drinking water
- BioLargo (OTCQB:BLGO) is rolling out its BioLargo AEC PFAS water treatment technology, which takes a novel and economical approach to removing these chemicals from water
- The BioLargo solution produces far less PFAS-laden waste than traditional carbon-based technologies, leading to cost savings and a dramatically reduced carbon footprint
- BioLargo’s PFAS solution will serve a multi-billion-dollar market while also aligning with the new administration’s focus on environmental issues such as water contamination
The Biden administration has wasted no time enacting new
environmental policies since taking office last month. Our company, BioLargo
(OTCQB:BLGO), is stepping up with exciting new technologies to take advantage
of the opportunities created by President Biden’s far-reaching environmental agenda.
One of the new administration’s first moves was to
announce final regulatory determinations on the safe levels of the widespread
and toxic water contaminants called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
in drinking water. This means the Federal Government has decided to create a
national standard for what concentration of these chemicals will meet the
threshold for regulatory action when found in drinking water supplies, and will
now start the process of regulating the chemicals through the Safe Drinking
Water Act.
The administration also gave advance notice that they may
designate PFAS as federally regulated hazardous substances and/or regulated
hazardous waste. These actions set off a long-anticipated race for
municipalities around the country to identify and adopt water treatment systems
that effectively and affordably remove the hard-to-treat chemicals from
drinking water.
PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals found in countless
household items like electronics, cleaning supplies, non-stick cookware and more.
While many of these items are not known to be dangerous by virtue of containing
PFAS, their ubiquitous manufacturing throughout the latter half of the 20th
century led to widespread contamination of lakes, rivers, wells and groundwater
throughout the U.S. In recent decades, there has been mounting evidence of the
damage to human health caused by these chemicals, including
cancer and hormone disorders.
Todd Haynes’s 2019 film Dark
Waters told the story of how lawyer Robert Bilott (played by Mark
Ruffalo) pursued DuPont in the late 1990s for contaminating Midwest communities
with then-unregulated PFAS chemicals. While the issue of PFAS water contamination
was well-documented by scientists at the time of the movie’s release, Dark
Waters helped thrust the issue into the public eye.
In some areas such as Southern California, municipalities
are already actively installing PFAS treatment systems, and as federal
regulations go into effect, the adoption of PFAS treatment systems is expected
to expand dramatically across the country. Drinking water utilities have
struggled to find economical treatment technologies that can efficiently remove
PFAS from water without stretching their budgets and generating mountains of toxic
waste as a by-product of treatment. In Orange County, 11
water districts have launched a lawsuit against major PFAS polluters,
including DuPont and 3M, to seek compensation for mandated well closures and
water treatment system retrofitting needed to remove PFAS from their drinking
water supplies.
At present, carbon filtration is the most common PFAS
removal technology, but it comes with a serious downside – it generates huge
volumes of PFAS-laden carbon waste that requires disposal. Usually,
municipalities have to foot the bill for the costly transport and disposal of
that PFAS-laden waste, which is normally done by incineration. Not only is PFAS
carbon incineration costly, but a
growing body of evidence suggests that it generates toxic volatile air
contaminants (in addition to greenhouse gases) as a result of incomplete
combustion of the PFAS chemicals. Disposal of PFAS-laden waste therefore
remains a contentious issue (one that regulators are starting to look at) and
municipalities would be wise to consider technologies that produce less
PFAS-laden waste.
Our company, BioLargo,
an environmental technologies innovator (OTCQB:BLGO), has invented and is
pilot-testing an innovative technology that removes PFAS chemicals from water faster
and more cheaply than carbon filtration. Our technology, called the BioLargo AEC, uses
electrolysis to extract PFAS molecules from water and deposit them onto proprietary
membranes while using little electricity and no input chemistry. Proven to be
more than 99.9% effective in removing PFAS from contaminated water, it produces
only a fraction of the PFAS-laden waste that carbon filtration treatment creates,
resulting in substantially lower waste disposal costs and better environmental
outcomes.
How big is the market to solve this PFAS problem?
Experts have estimated that over the next decade, municipalities
in the United States alone will spend billions
of dollars a year on PFAS treatment systems. We at BioLargo aim to address
this rapidly growing market by targeting municipalities interested in lower
operating costs, decreased carbon footprints, increased constituent well-being and
diminished regulatory risks associated with PFAS waste disposal.
The BioLargo AEC is rolling out in pilots and commercial
trials at municipalities in Southern California and the Midwest over the next
year as more public officials and advocacy groups ratchet up the pressure to
clean up the country’s PFAS contamination mess.
We at BioLargo are focused on creating a positive impact around the world with our innovative clean water, clean air and infection control solutions. Our company presents a scalable business model that targets high-impact CleanTech market opportunities like PFAS treatment while staying true to our mission statement to “make life better.”
About BioLargo, Inc.
BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB:BLGO) invents, develops, and
commercializes innovative platform technologies to solve challenging
environmental problems like PFAS contamination, advanced water and wastewater
treatment, industrial odor and VOC control, air quality control, and infection
control. With over 13 years of extensive R&D, BLGO holds a wide array of
issued patents, maintains a robust pipeline of products, and provides
full-service environmental engineering. Our peer-reviewed scientific approach
allows us to invent or acquire novel technologies and develop them to maturity
through our operating subsidiaries. With a keen emphasis on collaborations with
academic, municipal, and commercial organizations and associations, BLGO has
proven itself with over 80 awarded grants and numerous pilot projects. We
monetize through direct sales, recurring service contracts, licensing
agreements, strategic joint venture formation and/or the sale of the IP.
Several of our technologies are commercially available and are advancing as
disrupters in their respective markets. See our website at www.BioLargo.com.
Contact Information
Dennis P. Calvert
President and CEO, BioLargo, Inc.
888-400-2863
Safe Harbor Act
– caution regarding forward looking statements
This press
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements
include without limitation those about BioLargo’s (the “Company”) expectations
regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; anticipated revenue; and plans
for future operations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and
actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or
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without limitation: the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s
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effect of regional economic conditions on the Company’s business, including
effects on purchasing decisions by consumers and businesses; the ability of the
Company to compete in markets that are highly competitive and subject to rapid
technological change; the ability of the Company to manage frequent
introductions and transitions of products and services, including delivering to
the marketplace, and stimulating customer demand for, new products, services,
and technological innovations on a timely basis; the dependency of the Company
on the performance of distributors of the Company’s products. More information
on these risks and other potential factors that could affect the Company’s
business and financial results is included in the Company’s filings with the
SEC, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s
most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent
filings. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.
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