Widely used fluorinated chemical compounds called “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” or PFASs, are found in rivers, soils, and in people’s bloodstreams around the world, and some have been linked with a range of health problems, including cancer. Scientists say there may be hundreds of these compounds currently in use, and they’re working to determine how many are in the environment and to assess their potential harm, according to a February 6, 2018 article in Nature.
PFASs, which repel grease and water, are found in a wide range of products including waterproof clothing, carpets, nonstick pans, food wrappers, stain-proof coatings, and firefighting foams. PFASs have carbon-fluorine bonds, which are very strong and don’t degrade in the environment—or in people’s bodies.
Although some older PFAS compounds have been banned, companies have been creating new ones with different molecular structures they say will degrade more easily and are therefore less harmful to health. But the chemical industry doesn’t disclose its formulations, and environmental health experts are skeptical about the new compounds’ safety—so they’re analyzing PFASs found in water and soil samples. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Nature, “We’re going back to square one.”
The Nature article cited research by Grandjean that found that children with higher PFAS levels were less able to develop antibodies in response to vaccines. The article also mentioned research by Grandjean and Harvard Chan’s Elsie Sunderland looking at how PFASs move through the environment and how they impact health.
Read the Nature article: Tainted water: the scientists tracing thousands of fluorinated chemicals in our environment
Learn more
Risks of PFASs known decades before research revealed (Harvard Chan School news)
Health risks of widely used chemicals may be underestimated (Harvard Chan School news)