Forever chemicals

By Don Smolenski, Contributing Editor | TLT Machinery February 2023

PFAS cause health problems and persist in the environment.
 
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) have been in the news a lot lately. Introduced in the 1950s in such familiar goods as nonstick cooking pans, detergents and clothing that is stain resistant, they also are a key component of firefighting foams. The most commonly cited PFAS are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), but it is estimated that there are thousands of PFAS compounds.1 The carbon-fluorine bond in these chemicals is exceptionally strong, so they persist in soil, water, wastewater sludge and generally throughout the environment, hence the name “forever chemicals.” PFAS can withstand corrosive environments and high temperatures, so remediation technologies commonly used for other chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are not effective for PFAS.

PFAS were thought to be inert and relatively nontoxic until the early 2000s, when the extent of their contamination in the environment began to be recognized. Humans are exposed to PFAS through household products such as carpets, shoes, clothes, packaging materials and even cosmetics. In communities with facilities where these chemicals were produced or used extensively, such as oil refineries, airfields, etc., drinking water has been shown to be a route of exposure to people.2 PFAS bioaccumulate and can cause immunological, developmental, reproductive, hepatic, hormonal and carcinogenic effects.3

So, PFAS are of greater concern than many other chemicals in the environment. Several studies have shown a myriad of health problems specifically linked to PFAS:3,4
• Doubling miscarriage risk in women with higher amounts of PFAS over those with lower amounts
• Significant increase in preeclampsia (a condition causing dangerous hypertension in pregnant women)
• Lower birth weight in babies
• Increased risk of liver, kidney and testicular cancer (higher PFOS levels were associated with a 4.5 times higher risk of liver cancer)
• A reduction in some aspects of the immune response
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease associated with exposure to PFAS
• Increased cholesterol levels
• Increased thyroid disease
• Increased risk of asthma
• Lowered vitamin D levels
• Increased risk of diabetes
• Increased risk of hypertension in women
• Decreased vaccine response and immunotoxicity
• Also have been found to accumulate in the lungs.

It’s clear that PFAS are not the innocuous chemicals that many of us thought they were back in the 1950s but are in fact very problematic. So, what do we do now? Many PFAS have already been banned in the U.S. and by the European Commission. The U.S. EPA is expanding PFAS drinking water monitoring. There is a need for PFAS contamination site identification and characterization, selection of applicable analytical methods for PFAS identification and quantification, assignment of liability and others.1 There is a great deal of work to be done. If you are interested in learning more, I suggest perusing the PFAS fact sheets put together by the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council.5

REFERENCES
1. ASTM Standardization News, March/April 2022, “Standards address forever chemicals.” Available here.
2. Agilent website, “Combating PFAS.” Available here.
3. Battelle White Paper, “PFAS and human health: A state-of-the-science report to assist in the understanding of human exposures to PFAS and related health concerns.” Available here.
4. Hydroviv website, “Health effects caused by exposure to PFAS chemicals.” Available here.
5. Click here.

Don Smolenski is president of his own consultancy, Strategic Management of Oil, LLC, in St. Clair Shores, Mich. You can reach him at donald.smolenski@gmail.com.