Investigating the Chemistry, Properties, Environmental Fate and Transport, Lifecycle, and Risk Management Options of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a large family of industrial chemicals that have been widely used in numerous consumer and industrial products since the 1940s. Since about two decades, more and more scientific evidence was generated that PFASs are either highly persistent themselves or may transform into highly persistent perfluoroalkyl(ether) acids; some of them are also (very) bioaccumulative and toxic. Many PFASs have been detected ubiquitously across the globe. Thus, (many) PFASs have been widely recognized as substances of emerging globe concern by many academic scientists, NGOs and regulators. A series of projects have been, and are being, conducted in order to generate knowledge on the chemistry, properties, environmental fate and transport, lifecycle, and risk management options of PFASs in order to support evidence-based actions on the global, regional, national and local levels.
Collaboration
- external pageFederal Office for the Environment FOENcall_made
- OECD/UN Environment Global PFC Group and its members
- Stockholm University
- Norwegian Environment Agency
The concept of essential use for determining when uses of PFASs can be phased out
external pagehttps://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2019/em/c9em00163hcall_made
Why is high persistence alone a major cause of concern?
Ian T. Cousins, Carla A. Ng, Zhanyun Wang and Martin Scheringer
Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, vol. 21: no. 5, pp. 781-792, Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2019.
external pageDOI: 10.1039/c8em00515jcall_made external pageResearch Collection Abstractcall_made
Zürich Statement on Future Actions on Per - and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)
Amélie Ritscher, Zhanyun Wang, Martin Scheringer, Justin M. Boucher, Lutz Ahrens, Urs Berger, Sylvain Bintein, Stephanie K. Bopp, Daniel Borg, Andreas M. Buser, Ian Cousins, Jamie DeWitt, Tony Fletcher, Christopher Green, Dorte Herzke, Christopher Higgins, Jun Huang, Hayley Hung, Thomas Knepper and Christopher S. Lau
Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 126: no. 8, pp. 084502, Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2018.
external pageDOI: 10.1289/EHP4158call_made external pageResearch Collectioncall_made
Toward a Comprehensive Global Emission Inventory of C4–C10 Perfluoroalkanesulfonic Acids (PFSAs) and Related Precursors: Focus on the Life Cycle of C6- and C10-Based Products
Justin M. Boucher, Ian T. Cousins, Martin Scheringer, Konrad Hungerbühler and Zhanyun Wang
Environmental Science & Technology Letters, vol. 6: no. 1, pp. 1-7, Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 2018.
external pageDOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00531call_made external pageResearch Collectioncall_made