What are Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and why do they matter to you? If you’ve heard of them but aren’t really sure what they are, you aren’t alone. PFAS compounds have been part of commercial products and manufacturing for decades and have been increasingly linked with health and environmental risk, thus drawing increasing levels of public scrutiny and regulation. PFAS has been more regularly in the news and has been covered even by John Oliver's show recently here.
The issues around PFAS are complex and there is a staggering amount of information out there that is updating all the time. To help bring clarity around a critical issue for businesses, Antea Group USA has created this PFAS FAQ guide.
In the 1930s, a scientist developed new chemical compounds that would come to be known as PFAS. These compounds don’t occur naturally but are made up of chains of carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest bonds in nature. In fact, they are so persistent that they are often called “forever chemicals.”
The first commercial application of PFAS was Teflon in the 1940s. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been used in thousands of commercial, industrial, and military applications all over the globe and they continue to be developed.
PFAS is an umbrella term that covers thousands of chemicals with similar chemical structures. PFAS have some or all of the following properties:
PFAS are used in many products and applications including:
PFAS are part of thousands of products and manufacturing processes. Though some PFAS have been phased out, banned, or limited, others continue to be used in new product development globally.
The short answer is: there’s mounting evidence that some PFAS pose health risks but we don’t know everything yet. It is certain that PFAS enter the bodies of humans and animals in many different ways and then they stay there for a long time. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) highlights the following risks:
A large number of studies have examined possible relationships between levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood and harmful health effects in people. However, not all of these studies involved the same groups of people, the same type of exposure, or the same PFAS. These different studies therefore reported a variety of health outcomes. Research involving humans suggests that high levels of certain PFAS may lead to the following:
Many other scientific and regulatory bodies cite similar risks. The emphasis here is risk, not definite cause and effect. We are sure that some PFAS chemicals are harmful, we just haven’t nailed down all the specifics yet.
Environmental risks are just as difficult to determine as human health risks but there are several main concerns:
As with human health risk, environmental risks are still being assessed but the evidence is mounting that PFAS can be harmful to the environment. PFAS in drinking water continues to be an area of greatest concern.
Check out the full article on Antea Group USA's website for more on the benefits of PFAS and implications to your business.
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