All you need to know about PFAS
Length: • 2 mins
Annotated by Marc Chasserot
Marc Chasserot: PFAS are "forever chemicals" that pose negative impacts on human health and the environment. They can be found in drinking water and even in remote areas such as the Arctic Sea. The societal costs of PFAS pollution are staggering. ChemSec offers reports, webinars, and an online tool to help increase knowledge and phase out PFAS. The PFAS Movement is an advocacy campaign coordinated by ChemSec calling for a comprehensive ban on these harmful chemicals.
PFAS is a hot topic right now and will continue to be so for a long time to come. Since it’s in the nature of these “forever chemicals” to stick around, they will, unfortunately, continue to cause negative impacts on human health and the environment.
But, with the steady stream of PFAS-related information nowadays — news, guides, reports with interesting findings, and so on — it’s easy to get lost.
For this reason, we’ve tried to gather as much PFAS information as possible on this page. Here you’ll find interesting news, scientific and investigative reports, hard facts, online tools and guides, recorded webinars, and much more.
5 very concerning facts about PFAS:
In the United States, nearly two-thirds of the population receive municipally provided drinking water contaminated by PFAS with 97% of all Americans having measurable levels of PFAS in their blood.
Direct healthcare costs linked to PFAS exposure are estimated to be €52-84 billion every year.
At least 17,000 sites in Europe — as well as an additional 21,000 likely contaminated sites — are polluted with PFAS. More than two thousand of these PFAS hotspots contain levels so high they are deemed hazardous to human health.
PFAS have been found in the most remote places on the planet, far from regular human activity. Polar bears that hunt in the far north of the Arctic Sea have, for example, been found to have high concentrations of PFAS in their bloodstreams.
In 2022, the global market size for PFAS was €26 billion, which may sound like a lot. But it’s peanuts compared to the societal costs of PFAS, which amount to a staggering €16 trillion
PFAS reports & webinars
If you want to dig deeper into the subject of PFAS, ChemSec offers several reports and webinars to increase your knowledge further. Check out the list below!
The top 12 PFAS producers in the world and the staggering societal costs of PFAS pollution
Check Your Tech: A guide to PFAS in electronics
How companies view PFAS and the EU’s restriction proposal
Find out how to replace “difficult” PFAS uses with safer alternatives
All you need to know about the PFAS restriction consultation
The biggest chemicals legislation in years
Featured report
The top 12 PFAS producers in the world and the staggering societal costs of PFAS pollution
ChemSec vs PFAS: the rap battle
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What can companies do about PFAS?
The PFAS Movement is an advocacy campaign coordinated by ChemSec where over a hundred consumer brands worth more than €130 billion strongly support a comprehensive ban on “these harmful “forever chemicals”. 108 companies dedicated to phasing out PFAS chemicals from products and processes have joined the movement since it first started in 2020. Your company can join too!
Online PFAS tool
PFAS chemicals are used in many product categories, even where you least expect it. ChemSec’s online tool PFAS Guide alerts companies to products likely to contain PFAS and gives advice on how to phase them out.
