What are PFAS? A very brief introduction...
PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or otherwise known as "forever chemicals". We have been using PFAS since the 1930s and their use expanded exponentially in both consumer and industrial products and applications. One of the early uses was in the Manhattan Project, now they are in almost everything: clothing, cosmetics, food packaging, flame retardants, spray propellants, non-stick coating, dental floss, ....the list goes on forever. As an exercise, go to google news and type in PFAS, and you are sure to get the latest product found with PFAS (for example, smart watch bands).
https://pfas-1.itrcweb.org/2-pfas-chemistry-and-naming-conventions-history-and-use-of-pfas-and-sources-of-pfas-releases-to-the-environment-overview/
PFOA
PFOS
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To the left are two of >15,000 PFAS, this is perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), two of the most commonly detected PFAS. As a society, we don't like to buy products that break down or allow grease to bleed through or clothes that easily stain, thus PFAS were created. PFAS have a multitude of C-F bonds (one of the strongest bonds in chemistry), providing the properties of durability, resistance to stains, etc. When these products with PFAS are thrown discarded, these chemicals (via many different pathways, see below) can enter the environment. Unfortunately, the same properties that improve products make them troublesome in the environment (resistance to degradation).
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PFAS are extremely resistant to degradation, are highly mobile, and can bioaccumulate in food webs. Below is a PFAS cycle figure, showing a multitude of different PFAS sources (manufacturing site, landfill, farms that use biosolids, airports, wastewater treatment plants). Each of these can knowingly or unknowingly released PFAS into our water systems. Once released, PFAS can be transported in water, in air, and can get into wildlife. Of particular importance to humans, it can get into sources destined for drinking water. Just google "PFAS and drinking water" and I am sure the communities that come up impacted are near a suspected PFAS source.
Image below captured from here
Image below captured from here
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Something that makes PFAS unique is that they bioaccumulate in plasma (not fat like most contaminants). These chemicals, once we are exposed, are not readily metabolized and have shown to cross the placental and milk barriers. We all have measurable levels of PFAS in our bodies, some more than others, and this is likely due to our behaviors (do we make decisions that limit our risk for PFAS exposure). While there are no smoking gun connections with adverse health and PFAS, the list of negative associations between health and PFAS in both lab models and humans is exponentially growing. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this is how many systems PFAS has been linked to impacting on the body.
Image on left from here |
Our lab is identifying where PFAS are released, what happens to them once released in the environment, and then ultimately, how do they impact the health of the environment and humans.