Doing Something about Forever Chemicals   

Our planet’s ecosystems have been damaged by the impacts of a century of plastics manufacturing and usage.

Leo Baekeland in 1907 invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic containing no molecules found in nature. Not long after World War I, plastics such as polystyrene and polyamide could be found in most American households. The further development of plastic products, due to their versatility, convenience, and affordability, has led to massive public consumption.     

Those of you, like me, interested in conservation and environmental sustainability issues must have noticed alarming news articles in the past year concerning two specific threats: microplastics and “forever” chemicals. I’ll focus a little attention on what seems to be the more disturbing of these two forms of plastics pollution.  

Forever chemicals are Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) – a set of synthetic chemicals widely used since the 1950s in many consumer products and industrial processes. They are called forever chemicals due to their resistance to degradation and their persistent contamination of our water, soil, and air. PFAS are found in items such as food packaging, cosmetics, cookware, waterproof clothing, carpets, mattresses, electronics, and fire-fighting foams. Human exposure to PFAS has been linked to cancer. Additional health issues associated with PFAS exposure have been reported to be lower immunity levels, liver damage, unhealthy blood lipid levels, and pregnancy complications.   

Corporations such as 3M and Dupont have developed thousands of different PFAS. These companies make and then sell PFAS to other companies that use them in a diverse array of products. Critics have charged that the plastics industry has known for decades that PFAS have dangerous health consequences, but these companies have been negligent or very slow in response. Heightened awareness of PFAS consequences in the last decade or so has led to increased regulatory attention, many lawsuits, and chemical industry efforts to reduce or substitute for their usage.  

3M agreed to a $10.3 billion settlement in June 2023 with American cities and towns over claims that 3M had contaminated their drinking water. The company will pay out the money over 13 years for tests and cleanup of PFAS in public water supplies. Overall, PFAS have been found in more than one in four public drinking water systems in 2023 and in concentrations at or above the Environmental Protection Agency’s minimum reporting levels, according to a USA Today article in November. The newly published EPA data indicated hundreds of water systems that have detected PFAS provide drinking water to about 46 million Americans. 

USA government measures introduced in 2023 have sought to lessen the presence and impact of these substances in our ecosystems, while several European countries have declared their intention to outright ban the manufacture of PFAS. Some institutional and corporate investors are also pressuring chemical companies to end production of PFAS due to the growing and profound threat to these manufacturers’ bottom lines.  

Elsie M. Sunderland, Professor of Environmental Chemistry and Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, has been studying PFAS for about a decade and was interviewed on the VOX media site in 2022. She claimed that almost everybody has levels of different PFAS in their drinking water sources, whether tap or bottled water. She further estimates that 98 percent to 99 percent of people already have levels of PFAS in their bodies. 

Dr. Sutherland described the difficult challenges of doing something about these “everywhere” chemicals. Since there are thousands of different PFAS, proving one or some of these are very harmful hasn’t stopped the production and sales of other PFAS. It can take a decade or so of research and testing to determine if these other PFAS are just as bad. If so, the industry might still introduce yet another type of PFAS with uncertain prospects.   

Autumn Spanne, journalist and an editor for the Environmental Heath News, recommends the following personal approaches to lower the risk of harm from PFAS:   

* Read the labeling carefully for water- and stain-repellent items such as clothing, carpeting, curtains, furniture upholstery, bedding, tablecloths, napkins, personal care products, and cosmetics. Avoid those with “perfluor-,” “polyfluor-,” or “PTFE” on the label. 

* Use stainless steel, cast iron, glass, or ceramic cookware instead of non-stick or Teflon pots and pans.  

* Find out if your water source has been tested for PFAS. If it contains PFAS, or if it hasn’t been tested, consider purchasing an effective water filter.  

Increasing legal and regulatory attention placed on both microplastics and PFAS is presenting opportunities for the timber and forest products industry to offer viable plastics substitutes. Scientists, engineers, and designers are eyeing ecologically friendlier alternatives such as converted wood wastes and liquid wood. Arboform or liquid wood is biodegradable and composed of three natural components: pulp-based lignin, cellulose fibers, and some additives. It can be molded and used like some plastic products.  

To avoid PFAS coatings on some paper products, several firms are developing uncoated, yet grease-resistant, items. They are using an alternate mechanical process of compressing the fibers in paper and paperboard products. Compostable materials other than paper are also being used to make oil- and grease-resistant food ware. Polylactic acid typically made from corn, as well as clay, bamboo, and palm leaf are examples of these compostable materials. 

We certainly owe it to ourselves to do a much better job than previously of integrating concerns for our natural environment into the development of consumer and industrial products.