Our inventiveness has led to all kinds of new materials, whether solid, liquid or gas. A group of liquids we have created serve us in ways that defy nature. These formulated chemicals have properties that resist water and heat, and can remove grease and stains, which means they don’t easily break down in the environment. These chemicals are given the adjective “forever” when identified.
Human-made, there are as many as 14,000 of them today. PFAS is the acronym used to identify them. It stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The common characteristic is a strong bond between carbon and fluorine molecules.
Since the first forever chemicals appeared in the 1940s, a growing number have been invented with little thought to the consequences associated with their durability. That durability is what makes forever chemicals dangerous in the environment. Today, they represent an increasing health risk as they leach into soils and aquifers and accumulate in freshwater sources.
Where to Find PFAS
Unfamiliar with the products that contain PFAS. They often partner with products derived from oil and gas, the outputs of our post-World War II, technologically advanced world. What that list includes:
- The non-stick fluoropolymer, Teflon.
- Polyethylene plastics, including food containers.
- Plastic food wraps.
- Pizza boxes.
- Pharmaceuticals.
- Cosmetics.
- Waterproof and stain-resistant clothing.
- Paints and wallpapers.
- Fertilizers containing biosolids.
- Pesticides.
- Firefighting foams.
- Home insulation.
- Carpeting.
- Furniture.
- Computer chips.
- Medical devices.
- Automobiles.
- Toilet paper.
- Drywall.
Health and Environmental Risks
As environmental threats go, forever chemicals are right up there with other human-caused challenges, namely micro and nanoplastics, habitat destruction and mass extinctions, and climate change.
U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War were exposed to firefighting foams containing high concentrations of PFAS. Studies show that long-term exposure to PFAS, which include PFOS, perfluorooctane sulfonate, PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid, LC-PFCA, long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acid, and precursors, is linked to health risks.
The largest risk comes from consuming PFAS-contaminated water and food. The second-highest risk comes from using products containing PFAS. Exposure to PFAS by breathing air containing forever chemicals in aerosols is a third.
A recent Yale University study estimated that 90% of drinking water in the U.S. contained PFAS. A 2015 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reported 97% of Americans exhibited PFAS biomarkers in sampled blood. The level surprised the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers since PFOA and PFOS, the most commonly used PFAS, had already been banned from use in consumer products since the early 2000s.
Long-term medical risks include breast, kidney and testicular cancers, immune system disorders, developmental issues in infants, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Type 2 diabetes in women, obesity, puberty delay, osteoporosis and other bone diseases, renal disease, and thyroid disease. Yet to date, we still lack a definition for what is a safe level of exposure to forever chemicals.
A PFAS Ban Hasn’t Stopped the Health Threat
Today, PFAS can be found in samples from wastewater, ground and surface water, and soils. They persist in these environments for an unknown amount of time.
In people, as stated above, traces of PFAS show up in bloodwork. As we use products containing PFAS or ingest PFAS chemicals through food and drink, they are not excreted, but instead, accumulate in our bodies.
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency database contains 21,000 chemicals deemed to be health threats, of which nearly 15,000 are PFAS. With so many, it has become increasingly difficult to identify all of them and to measure their environmental impact. That makes it more difficult to tell people about exposure risks and creates an even greater challenge in finding workable solutions to remove and destroy them.
The Road to Eliminating PFAS
Banning all fluorine-based chemicals and precursors has not removed the long-term PFAS threat.
Banning the spreading of biopharmaceutical and municipal sludge on farmland can at least stop adding PFAS to the environment.
Substitutions represent one way to go. Solutions include safer materials and chemicals that can serve similar purposes, including: silicone-based coatings, plant waxes, beeswax, nanofibre materials, ceramic coatings, and superhydrophobic nanomaterials.
Removing PFAS from the Environment
Commonly used methods for removing PFAS are being studied at places like Utrecht University’s PFAS Remediation Lab in the Netherlands. Methods include:
- Employing activated carbon or charcoal filters to remove PFAS from water.
- Using nanomaterial filters to treat contaminated water.
- Using reverse osmosis to treat water.
- Supercritical water oxidation of contaminated groundwater to raise temperatures to 600°C (1112∘F), and pressures to 240 bar (3,480 pounds per square inch).
- Phytoremediation by growing plants in contaminated soils (hemp shows considerable promise).
- Bioremediation of contaminated soils by introducing PFAS-eating bacteria.
- Digging and treating contaminated soil and using pyrolysis with temperatures as high as 800°C (1,472∘F).
- Mechanical destruction of contaminated soils placed in containers along with small metal balls mixed with sand, which are then subjected to pressure to break the fluorine-carbon atomic bonds. This causes the fluorine to bond with the silicon sand (99.88% effective), leaving a non-toxic powder residue.
Removing PFAS from Us
The best way to begin removing PFAS from our bodies is through elimination and excretion. By doing this, we can lower PFAS levels detected in blood tests. Since PFOA and PFOS persist in the body for years, the only method of long-term removal has been to ban the use of these PFAS.
Look for PFAS-treated cookware, food packaging, fabrics and cosmetics to risk further exposure.
Certain gut microbes are known to sequester PFAS. Fibre-rich diets help bind PFAS to stool. Remaining hydrated helps the kidneys to flush them. Even donating blood regularly can lower PFAS scores.
