PFAS

January 19, 2023

Updated approach to regulating chemicals is “urgently needed,” say scientists

By Grace van Deelen

The US regulatory system for chemicals is not adequately protecting human health, and an overhaul is urgently needed, according to recommendations made this week by a group of environmental and health scientists.

In a paper published Thursday in Environmental Science and Technology, the group of 12 researchers criticized the nation’s chemical regulatory system for operating in ways that allow farmers, consumers and others to be exposed to unsafe chemicals on a regular basis.

Adoption of a new, “essential-use” approach is required, the researchers said. The framework proposed asks governments and businesses to assess chemicals using one of three possible questions: 1) “Is the function of the chemical necessary for the product?” 2) “Is the use of the chemical the safest feasible option?” and 3) “Is use of the chemical in the product justified because such use is necessary for health, safety, or the functioning of society?”

Current laws and practices employed by the US Environmental Protection Agency essentially require that a chemical must be proven unsafe to be barred from the market. The proposed system would flip that on its head, similar to the theory of the “precautionary principle,” which considers that a product should be proven safe to be approved.

“The current system of managing chemicals is broken,” said Carol Kwiatkowski, an author of the paper and a senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute, an environmental health advocacy group. “The essential-use approach is the first feasible solution that will actually protect people and the environment before extensive damage is done.”

Co-authors include researchers from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the University of Massachusetts, the University of Toronto, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Working Group.

More than 350 000 chemicals and mixtures of chemicals have been registered for production and use, according to a global review published in 2020. Environmental health advocates say not enough is known about the possible adverse effects these chemicals are having on the environment and human health. Many are clearly dangerous for humans exposed to them, including certain types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Some chemicals on the market in the US have been shown to disrupt hormones and impact reproductive health, cause cancers and other diseases and interfere with neurological development, among other harms.

January 12, 2023

Fishing fans take note: New study shows eating what you catch could be hazardous to your health

By Grace van Deelen

People who eat just one US freshwater fish a year are likely to show a significant increase of a cancer-causing chemical in their bloodstream, new research warns.

An analysis of US government data derived from more than 500 fish samples revealed that the majority of freshwater fish in the country are highly contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at levels almost 300 times higher than those found in commercially farmed fish, according to the paper published recently in the journal Environmental Research.

Importantly, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), a type of PFAS known to be particularly harmful, was the largest contributor to total PFAS levels found in the fish, averaging 74% of the total, according to the study. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers PFOS a hazardous substance that “may present a substantial danger to human health.”

The research found that eating one serving of fish at the median PFOS contamination level was equivalent to consuming one month’s worth of drinking water contaminated at 2400 times the recommended health advisory limit set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The study determined that “even occasional consumption” of fish meals would likely be a significant source of exposure.

Locally caught fish represent an important US food source, especially for people living on a low income. About 660,000 people in the US eat fish they catch themselves 3 or more times per week.

“Consuming a single freshwater fish could measurably increase PFAS levels in your body,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and one of the authors of the paper. “These fish are incredibly contaminated.”

December 21, 2022

3M sees “writing on the wall,” says it will stop making PFAS

by Shannon Kelleher

The company 3M, which makes over 60,000 products, said Tuesday it will stop manufacturing toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and work to discontinue use of PFAS in its products by the end of 2025.

The announcement comes amid a wave of lawsuits against the company and other manufacturers, alleging the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their products have endangered human health and the environment. Meanwhile, more and more states are banning PFAS in a range of consumer goods, with California recently restricting the chemicals in clothing and cosmetics.

More than 20 years ago, 3M committed to phasing out two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS. But since then the company has manufactured various other PFAS, which belong to a class of thousands of chemicals.

“We know that 3M has known for decades that PFAS were harmful, said Lydia Jahl, a science and policy associate at the Green Science Policy Institute. “The writing was already on the wall and they’re just responding to that. I think they’re seeing that it’s expensive to produce PFAS because of all these lawsuits.”

Scientists have found that PFAS exposure is linked to a range of health problems, including heightened risk for cancer, birth defects, and liver disease. Part of the chemicals’ danger is also how slowly they degrade and how they accumulate in the body over time. Today, PFAS are present in the blood of an estimated 97% of Americans and have been found in many drinking water systems across the country.

Even as it announced its intention to phase out PFAS in a press release, and despite abundant scientific evidence about the chemicals’ health risks, 3M claimed the chemicals are both safe and necessary.

December 16, 2022

EPA fails to adequately test tribal drinking water systems for PFAS, study finds

US tribal public water systems receive proportionately less federal testing for harmful “forever chemicals” than other drinking water systems, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Tribal communities have long suffered from water justice issues. Almost half of all tribal US homes don’t have access to clean or reliable water, or lack basic sanitation. High levels of arsenic, manganese, or iron have also been found in many tribal communities’ drinking water.

The study looked at data on PFAS collected from 2013 to 2015 through a federal program for monitoring unregulated contaminants in drinking water, finding that only about 28% of the population served by tribal drinking water systems was included in the testing. In contrast, almost 80% of the population served by non-tribal drinking water systems was included.

“We’ve been looking at issues of PFAS contamination and the unevenness of testing for years, and still these [findings] were surprising in terms of how big the discrepancy was,” said Alissa Cordner, co-director of the PFAS Project Lab at Northeastern University and an author of the study.

“Unfortunately, what tends to happen with PFAS is a lack of data is translated as a lack of a problem,” added Cordner. “Just because a place hasn’t been tested for PFAS doesn’t mean the PFAS aren’t there.”

PFAS, a class of chemicals used in many everyday products, have been linked to cancers and other serious health problems. Since there are not yet federally enforceable standards for PFAS in drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collects data about these chemicals, along with other contaminants suspected to linger in drinking water supplies, under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). This month, EPA is expected to issue long-awaited drinking water health standards for two PFAS chemicals, PFOA and PFOS.

November 14, 2022

Scientists speak out against WHO draft guidelines for PFAS in drinking water

By Shannon Kelleher

The World Health Organization (WHO) is ignoring risks to human health posed by two toxic types of PFAS chemicals, and is failing to propose properly protective measures in draft guidelines for drinking water standards, a group of more than 100 scientists alleged in a letter issued this month.

The 116 scientists – all experts on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – said in the Nov. 10 letter that the WHO guidelines should either be “significantly revised” or be withdrawn. The group cited examples of areas where they said the WHO has omitted or obscured “strong evidence” of the links between adverse health problems and the PFAS compounds known as PFOS and PFOA. The WHO did not respond directly to criticisms expressed by the scientists in their letter.

“WHO has ignored the last 20 years of scientific research, ranging from observational human studies, animal studies, and mechanistic studies, and concluded that there’s not enough information,” said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and one of the signatories on the letter to WHO.

“I don’t understand how they could have come up with this [draft] using an independent group of scientists,” she added. “My impression is that people who consult largely for industry are the people who are involved in writing this. It’s very, very concerning.”

The WHO may release its final drinking water guidelines for PFOS and PFOA as early as December, and some fear the guidance could undermine regulations expected from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the end of the year.

November 10, 2022

Pregnant mothers’ PFAS exposure may affect adult sons’ sperm quality

By Shannon Kelleher

A study that included more than 800 young Danish men found associations between levels of PFAS in their mothers’ plasma during early pregnancy and lower sperm quality when the men reached young adulthood.

The findings, which were published October 5 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, suggested that combined maternal exposure to seven of these toxic “forever chemicals” was associated with male offspring who grew up to have lower sperm concentrations, lower total sperm counts, and higher proportions of sperm that cannot travel normally (or at all).

The scientists identified one particular PFAS, perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), as the main contributor to all three effects on sperm quality, although they caution that more research is needed to confirm whether the chemical really has an outsized effect.

“This could mean that PFHpA is very potent or has a higher placental transfer than the other PFAS,” said Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg, a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and an author of the study. “It could also be a chance finding, considering the multiple comparisons we’ve made and the low concentrations of PFHpA. Before we have other studies to compare with and a more evidence on the mechanisms, we don’t put too much emphasis on this finding.”

November 7, 2022

New PFAS exposure scoring method could speed research on health effects

Researchers have developed a new statistical tool they say could speed up research on the health effects of exposures to toxic “forever chemicals” that are commonly found in an array of consumer products.

In a study published last week in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers from the Mount Sinai Medical Center and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health presented a new tool that offers PFAS researchers a way to compare total exposures to PFAS across scientific studies. The tool may provide researchers a more effective method to study these persistent toxins.

PFAS, an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of thousands of chemicals commonly used in non-stick cookware, food packaging, and waterproof clothing. The chemicals have been linked to certain cancers and reproductive issues.

Studying chemical mixtures is crucial to public health research, since people are exposed to many chemicals—including many types of PFAS—at once in their daily lives. But most studies that focus on toxic chemical mixtures only study those effects in relation to specific health outcomes; for example, a study might determine a chemical’s effect on blood pressure, or heart disease. Additionally, studies might measure different types of PFAS chemicals. That makes it hard for environmental health researchers to compare data.

November 4, 2022

Tests find PFAS in baby products and pet food packaging

By Shannon Kelleher

Testing on popular brands of infant bedding, bibs and other products for babies found nearly one third contained toxic PFAS chemicals and there were indicators that all of the products tested could contain PFAS, the Environmental Working Group said this week.

The research organization also found PFAS in pet food packaging, researchers reported.

The findings add to a growing list of household products found to contain these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down naturally over time. Some types of PFAS have been linked to cancer and other serious health problems. Young children and pets are especially vulnerable to toxic chemicals.

“A greater understanding of the specific sources of where [PFAS] come from helps inform our decisions and understanding of where we can try to avoid exposures,” said Krystal Pollitt, a Yale researcher who has studied PFAS in household dust and was not involved in the EWG assessments.

November 4, 2022

Industrial chemicals threaten hunting and fishing traditions

By Shannon Kelleher

For more than a century, members of the indigenous Penobscot Nation, who live along the Maine river from which they take their name, have mourned the loss of the migratory fish that sustained their ancestors.

Dams built by developers in the 19th and early 20th centuries along the Penobscot River cut off access to the ocean, preventing native fish from returning each year to spawn in their historic habitats.

A years-long restoration project was completed in 2016, reopening 2,000 miles of river to Atlantic salmon and other fish considered important nutritional sources for the people of the region as well as fish-eating birds and mammals, including eagles and river otters. Eleven species of native migratory fish returned to the Penobscot River due to the restoration project.

“We were very excited,” said Daniel Kusnierz, the tribe’s water resources program manager. “These would have been the species the tribe would have relied on heavily for food.”

But the celebration was short-lived: Though the fish have returned, researchers from the Penobscot Nation and government agencies have documented an array of toxic chemicals contaminating them, including dreaded per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances linked to various cancers and other health problems.

Known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” the class of industrial chemicals is almost impossible to eradicate and is increasingly documented in fish and other wildlife around the world. The plight of the Penobscot Nation is yet another example of how people everywhere are finding it increasingly difficult to escape the legacy of industrial pollution that threatens human and environmental health.

October 19, 2022

PFAS contaminating 83% of tested waterways, study finds

Clean water advocacy groups said this week that they have found toxins linked to cancer and other health problems in more than 80% of tested watersheds around the United States, adding to the growing body of evidence about the pervasiveness of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS.

Results of the study, which was carried out by the nonprofit organization Waterkeeper Alliance, were released Tuesday. The group said PFAS toxins were detected in 95 of 114 watersheds tested, and some samples were found to contain levels of PFAS thousands of times higher than the levels considered safe for drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida were among the states with the highest number of water samples containing PFAS.

The results “demonstrate that existing laws are inadequate for protecting us,” said Marc Yaggi, CEO of Waterkeeper Alliance.

The study is the first nationwide surface water quality survey to measure PFAS, and probably the most extensive survey of PFAS presence in surface waters that has ever been conducted in the US, according to the group.

One type of PFAS known as PFOA is considered a likely human carcinogen. Another type, PFOS, is known to accumulate in humans and cause liver damage and birth defects in lab animals. Both were detected in 69% of samples.

The report noted that PFOA was detected above the EPA Interim Health Advisory Level of 0.004 ppt in samples taken in waterways located in 26 states and D.C. The highest level detected was 847 ppt in a sample from Kreutz Creek, Pennsylvania. PFOS was detected above the EPA advisory levels in 28 states and D.C. The highest level detected was 1,364.7 ppt in a sample from Piscataway Creek, Maryland.