Read the full article by Cheryl Hogue (Chemical and Engineering News)
“This year, an international panel of scientists plans to release a more precise definition of a class of chemicals often found in news headlines—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are a group of synthetic, environmentally stable ‘forever chemicals’ that persist in the environment. They include inert polymers such as polytetrafluoroethylene—used in Teflon—and toxic, biologically active compounds such as the widespread pollutant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
PFAS also include novel compounds that researchers have discovered in the environment near industrial facilities. One is hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), a substance formed via hydrolysis from GenX, Chemours’s replacement for PFOA. Others are chloroperfluoropolyether carboxylates, detected in soil near a Solvay plant in New Jersey…”