Protecting the Future: How Integrated Laboratory Data Strengthens Environmental and Human Wellbeing

Around the world, communities face rising pressures from environmental contaminants that affect the air, water, food supply, and natural ecosystems. Addressing these challenges requires more than isolated testing, it requires a comprehensive view that connects environmental conditions with human and animal health. This integrated perspective is increasingly enabled through modern Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). 

This is the foundation of the One Health Approach¹, which emphasizes the interdependence between people, animals, plants, and the shared environments in which they live. Analytical laboratories play a critical role within this framework by generating precise, reliable data that enable decision-makers to better understand risks and shape strategies that protect future wellbeing. 

“Improving health is a holistic consideration of cause and effect,” says Judy Morgan, Chief Compliance Officer at Pace Analytical Services, LLC. “We have to continue to understand that population growth stresses our resources and systems and must carefully find ways to advance without diminishing quality of life.  A One Health Approach provokes thought on how essential it is that we strive to maintain the delicate balances in our environment.” 

A New Lens on Environmental Health 

Today’s environmental landscape is shaped by emerging contaminants and evolving regulatory expectations across the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific region. In the U.S., drinking water PFAS regulations under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) have been finalized², while product restrictions and food monitoring programs vary globally. In Europe, regulatory momentum is advancing toward classbased PFAS restrictions, reflecting a broader precautionary approach³. 

Against this backdrop, PFAS—commonly detected in water, soil, and air, as well as in food, food packaging, and a wide range of consumer and household products—continue to draw global attention due to their persistence, mobility, and widespread occurrence. Existing testing frameworks often focus on a limited number of targeted analytes, which can result in important indicators being missed across sectors such as agriculture, wastewater management, and consumer products (including cookware, textiles, and cosmetics).  

Industry partners like Clinisys are working to support laboratories as PFAS testing requirements continue to evolve. This aligns with the broader shift toward connected laboratory data strategies that help organizations move beyond isolated measurements to better understand how multiple environmental inputs interact and influence health outcomes across the full ecosystem.  

Staying Ahead of Change: Environmental Methods That Evolve with the Industry 

The environmental testing landscape is evolving rapidly, and a key differentiator for laboratories is the ability to stay current with new methodologies and regulatory shifts—a challenge best addressed through configurable LIMS platforms that evolve alongside testing requirements. 

Two notable examples of recently introduced methods include: 

• EPA Method 1621 – Adsorbable Organic Fluorine (AOF) in Aqueous Matrices⁴ 
  A validated screening method used to complement targeted PFAS analysis by measuring absorbable organic fluorine in aqueous samples. The method provides an aggregate, “big‑picture” indicator of organic fluorinated substances, supporting early identification of potential PFAS-related signals and helping regulators and utilities determine whether more detailed, compound-specific PFAS analysis is warranted, EPA Method 1621 has been validated but has not yet been promulgated for Clean Water Act compliance monitoring. 

• EPA Method 1628 – Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Environmental Matrices⁵ 
  A modern, congener-specific analytical method using low-resolution GC/MS that improves sensitivity and PCB congener detection compared with legacy Anchor-based PCB methods. EPA Method 1628 enables measurement of PCB congeners across a wide range of environmental matrices, including wastewater, soil, sediment, biosolids, and tissue samples. 

Together, these updates reflect the continued shift toward more advanced, comprehensive environmental monitoring—an area where Clinisys^TM Laboratory Solution (CLS) is designed to support current and future testing needs. 

Reinforcing CLS’s Role: PFAS Coverage Across Key Testing Packages 

In response to growing attention to PFAS, CLS provides broad coverage across multiple testing packages to support laboratories meet evolving requirements: 

• Clinisys^TM Laboratory Solution Environmental and Water Quality Pre-Configured Content Package: Includes 10 PFAS-related tests, using EPA and ASTM methodologies. 

• Clinisys^TM Laboratory Solution Food Safety Pre-Configured Content Package: 
  Includes 4 PFAS-related tests, supported by FDA and USDA methods. 

• Clinisys^TM Laboratory Solution Public Health Pre-Configured Content Package (coming Q4 2026):  PFAS testing will be included as part of this future planned release, expanding the capability footprint to meet upcoming Public Health needs. 
   

“PFAS has never been more critical, and its full impact is only now being fully understood,” said Johnny Mihai, Director, Product Packaging at Clinisys. “At Clinisys, we support laboratories with robust PFAS testing coverage across the domains that matter most, helping them respond with confidence to evolving regulatory and analytical demands.” 

Connecting Data to Protect Communities 

Laboratories generate the essential data that underpin environmental decision-making, inform public health strategies, and guide responsible resource management. When environmental, agricultural, and public health data are integrated, they provide a more comprehensive view of potential exposures and emerging trends. Ultimately, this extends beyond public health alone—supporting overall human safety through reliable, interconnected laboratory data. 

However, many laboratories still operate in silos. Advancing environmental and human wellbeing requires modern LIMS platforms that make laboratory data accessible, unified, and actionable across environmental, agricultural, and public health domains. 

How Clinisys Helps Laboratories Lead with Confidence in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape 

As PFAS testing requirements evolve, it is important to distinguish between analytical capability and regulatory enforcement. In several domains—particularly food and certain agricultural matrices—PFAS testing conducted under FDA and USDA programs remains largely surveillance and researchbased, with limited enforceable compliance thresholds currently established across many sample types. 

Within this context, Clinisys laboratory informatics solutions empower organizations with precise, dependable testing data that support informed decision-making and long-term improvement. Built on more than four decades of experience, the Clinisys™ Laboratory Solution (CLS) is a configurable SaaS-based LIMS platform designed to support laboratories by enabling flexible configuration, method tracking, and data management for PFAS analyses as standards and guidance continue to develop.  

By focusing on enablement, adaptability, and connected data across domains, Clinisys helps laboratories remain prepared as PFAS monitoring transitions from investigational and surveillance programs toward more formalized regulatory frameworks contributing to efforts focused on environmental responsibility and public health.  

Referenced sources

1. Joint Tripartite (FAO, OIE, WHO) and UNEP Statement Tripartite and UNEP support OHHLEP’s definition of “One Health”, retrieved on March 16, 2026.  https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/54a0f96f-066e-4a16-a186-1a4bbd9d9303/content 
2. Comparing Global PFAS Drinking Water Standards – Updated October 2025 – Water & Health Advisory Council, retrieved on March 31, 2026. https://wateradvisory.org/member-blog/international-pfas-standards-guidelines-june-2025/ 
3. PFAS pollution in European waters, retrieved on March 31, 2026. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/pfas-pollution-in-european-waters  
4. EPA – United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water. Method 1621 –  Determination of Adsorbable Organic Fluorine (AOF) in Aqueous Matrices by Combustion Ion Chromatography (CIC) https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-01/method-1621-for-web-posting.pdf  
5. EPA – United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water. Method 1628 – Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congeners in Water, Soil, Sediment, Biosolids, and Tissue by Low-resolution GC/MS using Selected Ion Monitoring, https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-07/method-1628_pcb-congeners-by-low-resolution-gc-ms_july-2021.pdf