New Concerns that PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Could be Absorbed Through the Skin
The so-called “forever chemicals” – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (collectively known as PFAS) – have been in the news a lot this year, with the EPA instituting many new initiatives designed to protect the nation’s drinking water from PFAS contamination:
- The first initiative is a new EPA drinking water standard, which went into effect in April 2024 and will limit certain PFAS chemicals in potable water. The EPA also proposed adding 6 additional PFAS chemicals to the drinking water standards. In concert with the new rules, the EPA announced it will fund $1 billion in new testing and treatment programs for public water systems and private wells, as part of the $2 billion allocated for environmental cleanup in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- At the same time, the EPA officially designated two common PFAS chemicals – PFOA and PFOS – as hazardous substances under the Superfund Act, officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERLA). This designation will help advance the cleanup of PFOA and PFOS contamination across the nation. In February 2024, the EPA also added nine PFAS chemicals to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) list of chemicals of concern.
- The EPA and General Services Administration also announced in April 2024 that federal contractors and agencies will need to purchase/use cleaning products certified free of PFAS chemicals.
- In June 2023, the EPA created rules requiring that any new uses of PFAS chemicals be reviewed before sales under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
- The EPA also established the largest-ever PFAS manufacturing inventory dataset in October 2023. This will affect all manufacturers and importers of PFAS-containing products made since 2011.
- In January 2024, the EPA mandated that any release of one of seven different PFAS chemicals will need to be reported under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report. Additionally, the EPA curtailed the production of 329 different PFAS chemicals that have not had a recent EPA review.
While these new regulations and initiatives could go a long way to reduce human exposure to PFAS chemicals in drinking water, the story does not end there.
Unfortunately, laboratory scientists are finding that exposure to PFAS “forever chemicals” might be more extensive than first thought.
Researchers have identified several food products that show signs of high levels of PFAS contamination, and perhaps most worryingly of all, a recent scientific journal paper indicates that PFAS chemicals might be absorbed through direct contact with human skin.
The Discovery, Development, and Proliferation of PFAS Chemicals
Before we look at the latest dermal exposure research, let’s take a moment to recap the history of how PFAS chemicals were discovered and developed and why they have become such an integral part of modern life.
The first of the fluoropolymer chemicals, now known by the umbrella acronyms PFAS/PFOA, was discovered accidentally by Dr. Roy J. Plunkett in 1938 while he was researching new refrigerant compounds at du Pont’s laboratory in Deepwater, New Jersey.
During the preparation of 100 pounds of tetrafluoroethylene gas, Plunkett found a white powder had unexpectedly formed in the cylinder. The next day, they discovered the powder had turned into a waxy white solid material overnight.
Curious, Plunkett’s lab investigated further and found the new substance was impervious to most chemicals, including highly corrosive acids.
The material, later identified as a long-chain polymer and given the name polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), had formed under high pressure – with the iron in the cylinder serving as a catalyst.
PTFE found an important use during the Manhattan Project; it was used to seal pipes and valves containing highly reactive uranium hexafluoride produced in Oak Ridge, Tennessee’s K-25 uranium enrichment plant.
The Proliferation of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and other PFAS Chemicals in the Post-War Era
In the postwar period, PTFE was introduced to the market in 1948 under the brand name “Teflon.” The first household non-stick pans, sold under the name “The Happy Pan,” came to market in 1961.
Throughout the postwar period, lab researchers developed new variants of these fluoropolymer class chemicals, which found their way into a wide range of products, from waterproof fabrics (Gore-Tex) to stain-resistant upholstery, garments, and carpets (Scotchgard) to drip-resistant fast-food containers and wrappers, cleaning products, firefighters’ fire suppression foam, dental floss, plumbing valves, and pipe joint sealing tape.
As useful as these new products were, there was a dangerous side as well.
Today, exposure to PFAS-class chemicals is closely associated with numerous health conditions, including major types of cancers, thyroid disease, and developmental problems in unborn children.
For many years, there was a public perception that PFAS-class chemicals were inert and, therefore, posed no risk to human health.
However, in 2023, researchers at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Colorado published an article that uncovered confidential chemical industry research dating back to 1970. The research indicated that PFAS chemicals were found to be “highly toxic when inhaled and moderately toxic when ingested.”
In May 2020, reporter Sharon Lerner published an expose in the New Yorker that outlined some of the history of these early health risk discoveries at companies such as 3M that were kept out of the public eye for decades.
Understanding the Laboratory Science Pointing to Potential PFAS Skin Absorption
If the health concerns of ingesting PFAS chemicals in drinking water were not enough to concern you, new research into the potential that PFAS chemicals could be absorbed directly through your dermal skin layers might.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham in England recently published the results of new PFAS dermal exposure experiments in the journal Environment International.
In their study, the researchers used an in-vitro 3D human skin model that was exposed to 17 different types of PFAS chemicals dissolved in a methanol solution for 24 to 36 hours.
The results showed that the shorter chain polymers, Perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), had the highest simulated dermal absorption rates at nearly 60% and 49%, respectively.
Interestingly, among the compounds with 11 or more carbon bonds, the longer the polymer chain, the less dermal absorption was detected.
However, this may be unwelcome news as the chemical industry has been introducing new, shorter polymer chain variants of PFAS compounds as alternatives to long-chain PFAS polymers that the EPA and other national regulators have recently banned.
As the study co-author Stuart Harrad said to The Guardian: “This is important because we see a shift in the industry towards chemicals with shorter chain lengths because these are believed to be less toxic – however, the trade-off might be that we absorb more of them, so we need to know more about the risks involved.”
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