The invisible chemicals which are poisoning the environment
What is PFAS?
PFAS is a blanket term. It refers to around 15,000 “forever chemicals”, which are a group of synthetic fluorine compounds used in a range of everyday equipment. From nearly all hiking equipment, including waterproof clothing and shoes, to nonstick pans (better as Teflon) and food packaging. These chemicals are not new either: discovered in the late 1930s, with usage in common products such as the ones above starting from the 1950s. Every PFAS chemical that has been studied has been shown to cause health concerns, but the two biggest ones are PFOA and PFOS. So why might you not have heard of them? What are the problems with these “forever chemicals”? And are there any alternatives?
Why are they a problem?
The property that leads to all the problems that these chemicals have is also the one that gives them their name. “Forever chemicals” take upwards of 1000 years to biodegrade or the force equivalent to the power of lightning. Once it gets into the environment, going around in the hydrological cycle, or into your bloodstream, it never goes away. While the molecule itself is stable, it can still easily leech off rain jackets or other clothes and into the environment. Its chemical stability further means that once PFAS have entered water sources, they can spread everywhere. In addition, most water treatment plants struggle to remove PFAS, unless they were specifically adapted to have that function. This is because PFAS are highly soluble in water, and are very un reactive. PFAS products in landfill leech into soil, and PFAS based firefighting foams can seep into groundwater, especially when combatting large forest fires. At the point that it is now, these chemicals have contaminated your tap water, the water reservoirs that it comes from, the oceans and even remote mountain streams.
What are the impacts of PFAS contamination?
The persistence and extent of the contamination of these chemicals leads to several health and environmental issues.PFAS in the human body have been linked to cancer, kidney disease, liver failure and immune system weaknesses. Elevated cholesterol levels and damage to the endocrine system have also shown to be associated with exposure to PFAS, and pregnant women have given birth to babies which were underweight or had developmental issues. These problems were detected in C8 Studies, monitoring the health of 69,000 people in West Virginia. PFAS have been detected in breast milk, umbilical cord blood and the bloodstreams of 98% of participants in a National Survey by the centre for disease control and prevention. These effects of PFAS are not unknown either. Studies in the 1960s by DuPont and 3M revealed the persistence of PFAS, animal studies suggesting toxicity and worker concerns in the 1980s. By the 2010s, studies linked PFAS contamination to all of the adverse effects listed above. In fact, some PFAS have been deemed so toxic that the EPA has stated this year that there is no acceptable level of it in drinking water. 0 parts per million.
With regards to environmental effects, PFAS tend toaccumulate exponentially as it travels up the food chain. Since it doesn’t biodegrade, it accumulates in extremely high concentrations in the bodies of top predators, concentrations in which it can be potentially lethal. In addition, PFAS contamination has been shown to effect reproductive and developmental areas in animals. PFAS is particularly dangerous to apex marine predators, such as orcas and harbour porpoise, they increase the chance of disease,reproductive failure and hormonal disruption. Even Northern Gannets in the UK, which breed on uninhabited islands such as Bass Rock, have been shown to be contaminated with PFAS. In lab studies, animals exposed to PFAS have been shown to have thyroid problems, impaired learning and motor skills and anxiety like behaviour, with real life examples also plentiful.
What has been done?
In actual fact, not that many restrictions have been put onto PFAS. PFAS are so good at repelling water, oil and stains that there just arent any biodegradable alternatives that can properly compete with it. Brands continue to use these compounds because they are afraid of losing customers, to the extent that companies that did start producing PFAS free products cant actually guarantee that statement. Most brands now refuse to state “PFAS free” because they cant be sure that there are no contaminants. Brands such as FjallRaven have stated that they arent “intentionally” using PFAS, because it is so easy to contaminate the machinery, even if PFAS arentused as a material. In addition, PFAS contamination to water can come from so many different sources that it would be very difficult to completely cut out.
The EPA has banned the two most toxic chemicals – PFOA and PFOS, after deeming 0 parts acceptable in water sources. It recognised that enforcing this would be difficult, so the EPA has put an enforceable limit of 4 parts per trillion. This is equivalent to 4 drops of water in 20 Olympic swimming pools.
What can you do?
The best ways to help would be to raise awareness of the problem. Share this article or watch some videos on the topic. Some good websites to research the topic more are linked below. In addition, it is possible to find alternatives to products that use PFAS in them. Some examples include ceramic cookware, stainless steel pans, wax based water repellant fabrics, paper or plant based packaging, fluorine free foams or silicone based products for lubricants. Finally, it is also possible to support research and clean up, some companies that are working on the topic can also be found below.