Facts: PFAS
PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluorinated alkyl acids, began to be produced on a larger scale in the 1950s. There are approximately 4,700 different PFAS substances.
The PFAS molecules have special surface properties which are used, among other things, to make durable bubbles in fire foam, good sliding in ski wax and water-repellent impregnation for textiles, as well as in food packaging and frying pans.
In Sweden, we ingest low levels of PFAS primarily through food, for example via fish from polluted lakes, as well as from indoor air because the substances are spread from gadgets and materials in our homes.
By using products or goods that have been treated with PFAS, the substance can also be absorbed through the skin.
People have also been exposed to higher levels in areas where drinking water has been contaminated with PFAS, for example from fire drills.
PFAS can also be transferred to the fetus via the placenta, and to infants via breast milk.
Source: The Swedish Chemicals Agency and the Karolinska Institutet.
A research group at the Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry has compared the concentrations of four perfluorinated alkyl acids in nature with the limit values set for how much is safe to ingest. The quantities in the rainwater exceed the limit values for drinking water in most of the world.
Levels are naturally highest where people live, that is where chemicals are used and released. But PFAS are just everywhere.
— The snow in Antarctica has higher levels of PFAS than what was set for drinking water in the United States, says Professor Ian Cousins, who led the study published in Environmental Science and Technology.
Limit values lowered
PFAS have been used since the 1950s and the levels in nature have been the same for the past 20–30 years. The limit values have been lowered sharply as more is learned about how exposure to PFAS affects us.
– It is only now that more has been learned about the toxicity and because of that the safety levels have been lowered. But we have been exposed all along.
Ian Cousins has seen over time how the limit values have been lowered and approached the levels found in rainwater.
— Now the limit values are actually below the levels found in the environment. It has become impossible to get down to the limit values
Chemicals with the collective name PFAS are everywhere in our everyday life, for example in frying pans, food packaging, all-weather clothing and make-up.
Worse immune system
They are often called forever chemicals because they do not break down in nature. They are also stored in the body of both animals and humans. More and more research indicates that even low levels of PFAS are harmful to us.
— What you base the limit values on is that you get a weaker immune system from being exposed. You have a lower ability to form antibodies, says Ian Cousins.
At the same time, it is difficult to prove the effects of PFAS, he adds.
— There is no control population because everyone has been exposed. Everyone may have had a weaker immune system.
The researchers behind the study want to see that the use of PFAS is quickly phased out and that emissions are severely limited.
— We must learn from this and not release persistent substances – and there are many such chemicals. If you release substances that never break down, there will be high levels in the environment. If you then find out that there is a problem with them, it is very difficult to clean the water and the soil and get rid of them.