Perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) have existed for decades and are used in hundreds of everyday products, but only recently have scientists begun to understand the negative health effects associated with this class of industrial chemicals. Research published in June by Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, indicated that some companies were aware of the risks these chemicals posed in the late 1970s but did not share the findings with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until decades later.
Grandjean appeared on a September 10, 2018 episode of Science for the Public’s Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations to talk about his research and the role companies played in potentially concealing the risks of PFASs. Grandjean discussed the wide use of the chemicals, why they are so persistent in the environment, how they affect human health, and how early animal studies conducted by companies raised concerns about the safety of PFASs but were not properly reported by the companies conducting the tests.
“Supposedly the companies should have reported this to the EPA and didn’t,” he said. “Of course the companies have an interest in not reporting disadvantageous information about their products.”
Watch the Science for the Public interview: How Delayed Release of Industry Data on Chemical Toxicity Impacts Health
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PFASs, chemicals commonly found in environment, may interfere with body weight regulation (Harvard Chan School press release)
Risks of PFASs known decades before research revealed, says expert (Harvard Chan School news)