{"id":116302,"date":"2024-10-16T13:48:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T11:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?page_id=116302"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:52:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:52:22","slug":"pfas-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/fr\/work-areas\/industry-health\/pfas\/","title":{"rendered":"PFAS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What are PFAS?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of more than 10,000 chemicals that can be found in a wide range of products, in the environment and in our bodies. <\/span><\/p>

PFAS<\/span><\/a>\u202f are man-made substances\u202fcreated by replacing hydrogen atoms\u202f(the\u202fnatural\u202fbonding partner\u202ffor carbon)\u202fwith fluorine atoms.\u202f This gives PFAS\u202fwater\u202fand oil\u202frepellent\u202fproperties.\u202fThese properties are sought after\u202fin\u202fmany\u202findustrial\u202fproduction\u202fprocesses but come\u202fat\u202fa cost:\u202fthe fluorinated\u202fparts of emitted PFAS are not degradable. This means that\u202fonce released into the environment,\u202fthese\u202fPFAS\u202fcannot\u202fbe\u202fbroken down into carbon dioxide or methane by bacteria, enzymes, or sunlight, earning them the name of\u202f\u202f\u2018<\/span>forever\u202fchemicals<\/b>\u2019.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u2018Default\u2019\u202fhydrocarbon and partially fluorinated counterpart: octan-1-ol (left) and 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol\u202f(middle), which\u202fdegrades into\u202f<\/span>PFHxA<\/span>\u202f(right) and into other persistent substances.\u202f<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why are PFAS an issue<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Thousands of PFAS have been identified, and<\/span> <\/span>hundreds are produced industrially<\/span><\/a>. Around<\/span> <\/span>100,000 sites in Europe<\/span><\/a> are estimated to emit PFAS into the environment. Adding complexity to the issue of PFAS contamination, not all PFAS are equal. The\u202fnon-fluorinated parts of\u202femitted\u202fPFAS do\u202fin fact\u202fdegrade.\u202f<\/span><\/p>


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The\u202fPFAS\u202ffound\u202fin the environment are\u202ftherefore\u202fnot necessarily\u202fidentical to\u202fthe ones that companies produce; from the moment they are emitted to the moment they are found in the environment,\u202fthese PFAS\u202fmay undergo changes\u202fthat effectively make them \u2018new PFAS\u2019, distinct from\u202ftheir original form. This makes it more challenging for regulators to properly regulate them.<\/span><\/p>


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While\u202fsome PFAS bioaccumulate,\u202fbuilding up in ecosystems\u202f-\u202fincluding in humans\u202f-\u202fother\u202fPFAS\u202fare very\u202fmobile and easily travel to any part of the globe. They have the\u202f\u202fability to dissolve in\u202fwater (but not disappear). Yet others can be volatile and become airborne. Therefore, they \u202feasily\u202ftransit to other\u202fparts of the ecosystem through water and air<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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PFAS Sources<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Everyday we come into contact with these <\/span>\u2018forever chemicals\u2019<\/b> as they\u2019re found in a variety of products, from food packaging to frying pans and raincoats. Not surprisingly, <\/span>people all across Europe already have high levels of these dangerous chemicals in their bodies.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

The main route how humans take up PFAS in their bodies is through<\/span> food<\/b> and <\/span>drinking water.<\/b> PFAS got into our soil and water bodies that serve as drinking water sources through several ways. Main point sources include industrial pollution from PFAS production and use sites, sites where PFAS were applied through fire-fighting foams that contain them, but also through PFAS containing pesticides.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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PFAS Pollution issues in Europe<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Pollution<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Forever Pollution Map<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The \u201cForever Pollution Map\u201d<\/b> showing the identified and <\/span>presumptive contamination sites in Europe<\/b> was developed in an outstanding collaboration project of journalists across Europe. It is highly alarming see how advanced the PFAS pollution is and <\/span>how exposed EU citizens are.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

More details and insights from local pollution hotspots and how affected the communities are,<\/span> the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)<\/b> collected on<\/span> this website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>

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