Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) or “forever chemicals” may seem reminiscent of a Mary Shelley novel, but these substances are a very real scare. They’re in our everyday homes, habits and bodies, and they shouldn’t be ignored.
The history of PFAs dates back to warfare laboratories during World War II, but PFAs were made popular in commercial markets by chemical plant company DuPont, which developed the PFA chemical long used in non-stick pans – Teflon.
With both water and grease-resistant properties, PFAs have been used in products like non-stick cookware, raingear and firefighting foam for decades.
The same properties which make forever chemicals so attractive in the kitchen, however, are the same properties which allow them to evade nature’s natural degradation processes and live up to their nickname.
Once they make it into the environment – leaking from landfills into the soil or traveling through the air, PFAs are incredibly persistent. Water is a major agent for degrading substances in the environment, but being water-resistant, PFAs persist in the environment for long periods of time.
From there, PFAs can build up in the tissues of organisms that consume them – a process called bioaccumulation – and PFAs increase in concentration as they move up the food chain, which is called biomagnification. For species like us, at the tippy top of the food chain, the combined results of bioaccumulation and biomagnification is chilling.
It is estimated that at least 97% of Americans have PFAs in their bloodstream, according to the National Library of Medicine.
While we don’t fully understand the price we’re paying for our creation, we do know there’s health risks to having PFAs in our bodies. Forever chemicals have been associated with numerous cancers, increased cholesterol, negative effects on the body’s reproductive system, immune system, developmental growth and more, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA mandates certain restrictions against PFAs, even though the substances are not officially or completely banned. There are limits to the concentration of PFAs that can be present in select manufactured items and water sources. Other initiatives are working to phase-out PFAs from particular products and find workable alternatives.
In 2014, PFOAs – a PFA acid – was officially eliminated from manufacturing, including in Teflon, but other PFAs are still used in water-resistant products today.
Protect yourself, and others, by acknowledging the invisible dangers in your non-stick pan. Don’t use non-stick pans once they’ve begun to peel or chip away, or avoid purchasing them at all.
“Teflon is not going to stay, those non-stick coating, is not going to stay on the cookware forever,” said Eric Lee, a professor of mechanical engineering at NIU. “Eventually, the detergent and the water is going to do, is going to erode those coating, and eventually it goes into our wastewater stream.”
While he acknowledges the convenience of a non-stick pan, Lee uses oil and a cast iron skillet for his cooking.
To keep PFAs out of our landfills, keep old raingear secured in your closet or donate them instead of throwing them away.
If you store those raincoats in your closet long enough, you can actually measure PFAs in the air. They emit it. They degrade, and then they become airborne,” Lee said. “You should keep storing your raincoat in your closet because if you start throwing it out as trash, then eventually it goes to our water stream, it goes through into air.”
If you have the physical means for it, donating blood or plasma can help purge PFAs from the body. The EPA also has recommendations to reduce your risk of exposure listed on its website.
Nature is characterized by ebb and flow, birth and decomposition. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that a “forever chemical” which challenges nature itself comes at a creepy price, and more likely than not, convenience when frying an egg isn’t worth the cost.
