PFAS Testing Market Size (2026-2030)

The PFAS Testing Market was valued at USD 610.5 million in 2025 and is projected to reach a market size of USD 1.45 billion by the end of 2030. Over the forecast period of 2026-2030, the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.8%.

The PFAS Testing Market sits at the critical intersection of environmental science, public health policy, and advanced analytical chemistry, addressing one of the most pervasive contamination challenges of the modern era. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloquially known as "forever chemicals" due to the indestructible carbon-fluorine bond that prevents their natural degradation, have transitioned from a niche environmental concern to a global regulatory priority. In 2025, the market is no longer driven merely by academic curiosity or voluntary corporate stewardship; it has been fundamentally reshaped by a seismic shift in the regulatory landscape, particularly in North America and Europe.

Simultaneously, a burgeoning consumer market is emerging, with homeowners seeking simplified "mail-in" testing kits to verify the safety of their private wells and tap water, further democratizing access to this complex forensic science.

Key Market Insights:

• The EPA’s 2024 “Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation” underlines that PFAS contamination in drinking water poses significant health risks (cardiovascular disease, infant birth weight issues, cancer, etc.), motivating stricter water-supply standards. epa.gov
• Water Testing remains the absolute backbone of the market, accounting for 44.2% of all revenue generated in 2025, as utilities scramble to meet the new Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs).
• The Services segment (commercial laboratories) commands a dominant 58% market share in 2025, as the high capital cost of LC-MS/MS equipment ($300k-$500k per unit) prevents most smaller municipalities and companies from bringing testing in-house.
• In 2025, the LC-MS/MS technology segment accounts for 85% of the regulatory compliance market, being the only method sensitive enough to reliably hit the sub-4 ppt detection limits required by the EPA.

Market Drivers:

The single most potent driver for the PFAS testing market in 2025 is the transition from "advisory" health goals to "enforceable" legal standards.

The EPA's National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, which set enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) at 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, has effectively created a mandatory market. Before this ruling, testing was largely voluntary or driven by local state guidelines. Now, over 66,000 public water systems in the US are federally mandated to monitor these chemicals. This has created a guaranteed, recurring revenue stream for testing laboratories. The "rule of law" has replaced "moral obligation" as the primary motivator, forcing even budget-constrained municipalities to allocate funds for quarterly or annual compliance monitoring, thereby cementing the market's financial floor.

Beyond proactive compliance, the market is being propelled by a massive wave of defensive testing driven by litigation fears.

The designation of key PFAS as "hazardous substances" under CERCLA means that current and past property owners can be held liable for cleanup costs if contamination is found. This has triggered a frenzy of "due diligence" testing by real estate investment trusts (REITs), industrial manufacturers, and airport authorities who need to quantify their liability exposure before transactions occur or before the EPA knocks on their door. Corporate legal teams are advising clients to test soil and groundwater immediately to establish baselines, effectively turning PFAS data into a critical asset for legal defense and risk management strategies.

Market Restraints and Challenges:

The primary restraint choking the market is the astronomical capital and operational cost associated with establishing a PFAS-capable laboratory. A single LC-MS/MS system costs upwards of $400,000, and the "clean room" infrastructure required to prevent background contamination (such as removing all Teflon tubing and using specialized HVAC systems) adds significant overhead. Furthermore, there is an acute shortage of skilled analytical chemists capable of interpreting the complex data produced by these high-sensitivity instruments. The "background noise" in PFAS testing is notoriously difficult to manage, and a lack of experienced personnel leads to high rates of sample re-testing, eroding profit margins for labs.

Market Opportunities:

A massive, untapped opportunity lies in the development of Total PFAS screening tools and rapid field sensors. Currently, sending samples to a central lab is slow and expensive. Technologies that can offer a "pass/fail" indication in the field using biosensors or spectroscopy could revolutionize the remediation sector, allowing site managers to make real-time decisions during soil excavation. Additionally, the market for Food Contact Material (FCM) testing is poised for explosive growth. As retail giants and states ban PFAS in food packaging, manufacturers will need certification services to prove their paper wraps and boxes are truly "PFAS-free," opening a new revenue vertical distinct from environmental water testing.

PFAS TESTING MARKET REPORT COVERAGE:

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation:

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation by Product:

• Services

• Instruments

• Consumables

Services are the most dominant type in 2025. This is due to the extreme complexity and regulatory burden of PFAS testing; most water utilities and industrial sites cannot afford the millions of dollars required to build and accredit an internal lab. They rely entirely on outsourced commercial laboratories that possess the necessary NELAP certifications and ISO 17025 accreditations.

Consumables are the fastest-growing type. Every single sample run requires a fresh set of disposable, PFAS-free solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges, pipette tips, and chromatography columns to prevent cross-contamination. As the volume of testing scales up, the burn rate of these single-use high-purity consumables is accelerating faster than the installation of new instruments.

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation by Technology:

• LC-MS/MS

• GC-MS

• ELISA

• Combustion Ion Chromatography

• TOF-MS

LC-MS/MS is the unequivocally dominant technology, holding the lion's share of the market. It is the only technology currently approved for the EPA's "gold standard" methods (like Method 533 and 537.1) for drinking water compliance. Its ability to detect specific analytes at sub-ppt levels makes it indispensable for regulatory reporting.

ELISA (and other rapid screening biosensors) is the fastest-growing technology. While not yet used for final compliance reporting, these cheaper, faster antibody-based tests are seeing massive adoption for "screening" purposes—helping utilities quickly map out contamination hotspots before paying for expensive confirmatory LC-MS/MS analysis.

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation by Sample Matrix:

• Drinking Water

• Wastewater

• Soil & Sediment

• Food & Beverage

• Serum/Blood

• Air

Drinking Water is the most dominant sample matrix in 2025. This dominance is engineered by federal mandates; the immediate legal requirement for public water systems to monitor their output overrides all other testing needs. The sheer volume of municipal water samples mandated by the EPA's UCMR 5 (Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule) and the new MCLs drives this segment.

Food & Beverage is the fastest-growing sample matrix. Public outcry over PFAS in fast-food wrappers and contamination of agricultural land (such as dairy farms inadvertently using contaminated sludge fertilizer) is forcing the food industry to initiate massive supply chain audits, driving a surge in testing for milk, produce, and packaging materials.

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation by End-User:

• Municipal Water Utilities

• Government & Environmental Agencies

• Industrial Manufacturing

• Food & Beverage Industry

• Wastewater Treatment Plants

Municipal Water Utilities are the most dominant end-user. They bear the direct brunt of the new drinking water regulations. Every city, town, and rural water district is now a customer of the PFAS testing market, collectively generating the highest volume of sample submissions to commercial labs.

Industrial Manufacturing is the fastest-growing end-user. With the new CERCLA hazardous substance designations, manufacturers are racing to conduct "internal audits" of their effluent and property soil. They are proactively testing to assess potential cleanup liabilities and to prepare for tightening industrial discharge permits (NPDES).

PFAS Testing Market Segmentation: Regional Analysis:

• North America

• Europe

• Asia-Pacific

• Latin America

• Middle East & Africa

North America dominates the global market with an estimated 43% share in 2025. This leadership is strictly regulatory; the U.S. EPA has the most comprehensive, aggressive, and legally enforceable PFAS testing framework in the world, creating a massive domestic market for compliance services.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region. Rapid industrialization in China and India, combined with rising awareness of water pollution and nascent regulatory frameworks modeled after US/EU standards, is driving a surge in demand. As global supply chains face pressure to be "PFAS-free," Asian manufacturers are increasingly testing their products to maintain export viability.

COVID-19 Impact Analysis:

While the acute phase of COVID-19 is over, the pandemic left a lasting imprint on the PFAS testing market by highlighting the fragility of public health infrastructures. The post-pandemic focus on "One Health" and supply chain resilience accelerated the government's willingness to invest in environmental monitoring. Initially, COVID-19 diverted lab resources to PCR testing, causing delays in environmental analysis. However, the massive expansion of PCR and molecular lab capacity during the pandemic has since been partially repurposed or has provided a workforce skilled in high-complexity testing, indirectly benefiting the staffing pool for environmental labs in 2025. The pandemic also sensitized the public to "invisible threats," making the populace more vocal and supportive of strict chemical regulations.

Latest Trends and Developments:

A major trend in 2025 is the shift toward "Total Organic Fluorine" (TOF) analysis. Instead of looking for just 20 or 30 specific PFAS compounds, regulators and researchers are using TOF as a "pre-screening" proxy to capture the total burden of fluorinated chemicals in a sample. Another key development is the rise of automated sample preparation workstations. To combat labor shortages, labs are deploying robots that handle the tedious Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) process, improving precision and throughput. Finally, there is a growing trend of "forensic fingerprinting", where advanced labs use non-targeted analysis to identify the specific source of contamination (e.g., matching a water sample's chemical signature to a specific nearby factory's firefighting foam).

Key Players in the Market:

1. Agilent Technologies, Inc.

2. Waters Corporation

3. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

4. Eurofins Scientific SE

5. ALS Limited

6. PerkinElmer, Inc.

7. SGS S.A.

8. Bureau Veritas

9. Shimadzu Corporation

10. Pace Analytical Services, LLC