HEALTH NEWS PFAS: These ‘forever chemicals’ are highly toxic, under-studied, and largely unregulated Per-/poly-fluroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are everywhere. They are used in firefighting foam, car wax, and even fast-food wrappers. They’re one of the most toxic substances ever identified --harmful at concentrations in the parts per trillion --yet very little is known about them. PFAS, which is a class of over 3000 compounds, are only regulated at the state level, so while some states are working to aggressively tackle the problem, other states have chosen to ignore PFAS completely, leaving concentrations unknown and health risks unexplored. PFAS have been produced in the U.S. for decades, pri-marily for industrial use. Matt Reeves, a professor at Western Michigan University and lead author of one of the presenta-tions, says PFAS have been labelled “forever chemicals” because they have bonds that are “among the strongest in all of chemistry.” The health risks from PFAS bioaccumulation are height-ened because of their toxicity at extremely low concentrations. At the federal advisory level, which is non-enforceable and was set in 2016, the EPA has deemed just 70 parts per trillion (ppt) safe; that’s like a few grains of sand in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Compare that to arsenic, a toxic element whose safe limit is 10 parts per billion --much higher than the PFAS limit. Due to bioaccumulation, fish in southeastern Michigan were found with PFAS concentrations in the parts per billion --far exceeding safe limits and prompting “do not eat the fish” signs to be posted along rivers and lakes. Health effects from PFAS are still being studied, but they potentially include increased rates of some types of cancer, hormonal disruption, and immune responses. Even once a PFAS source is identified, remediation is difficult. North Carolina, like Michigan, has legacy PFAS contamination from industries past. Marie-Amélie Pétré, a postdoc at NCSU, is studying how quickly PFAS are flushed from groundwater to streams. “PFAS don’t discriminate,” Steve Sliver, a co-author on Reeves’ talk and lead of Mich-igan’s PFAS response team, says. “The sources are pretty much everywhere.” — Geological Society of America www.Cndoctor.ca CND_EcoChiro_Dec20_CSA.indd 1 December 2020 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor 9 2020-11-11 9:27 AM
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