PFAS

Key findings of this report are:

PFAS substances are poorly controlled in Indonesia
Indonesia became a Party to the Stockholm Convention in 2009 and the treaty added PFOS to its global restriction list in 2009. This amendment went into legal force in Indonesia in 2010. However, PFAS are essentially unregulated and not currently included in monitoring programs.

Breast milk is contaminated with PFAS substances
A 2008 study found PFAS in breast milk in women from Jakarta and Purwakarta. PFAS substances included PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA and PFHpA. PFOS was found in all twenty women and PFHxS was found in 45% of them. Overall, PFOS levels in Indonesian breast milk averaged 84 ppt – more than 4 times higher than the drinking water health advisory limit of 20 ppt for PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFHpA and PFNA combined in the US State of Vermont. The highest level of PFOS exposure in Indonesian breast milk was more than 12 times greater than this drinking water health advisory limit.

Fire extinguishers containing PFAS are available on the market for consumer use
In Indonesia, fire extinguishers containing PFAS (AFFF) are readily available for consumer purchase. In fact, vendors mention that the fire extinguisher contains PFOA and PFOS as a hydrocarbon-based surfactant and claim that the product is, “Not harmful to plants, animals, especially humans."

Soccer shoes and coats manufactured in Indonesia contain high PFAS levels.
A 2014 Greenpeace investigation found five types of soccer shoes manufactured in Indonesia that contained PFOA and PFBS. The levels ranged from 5.28 – 14.5 µg/m2 for PFOA and 14.5 – 37.9 µg/m2 for PFBS. A study from the German Federal Environmental Agency found a coat made in Indonesia with a variety of PFAS substances at a total level of 42.9 µg/m2. To illustrate how significant these levels are, note that the EU regulates PFOS at 1 µg/m² in textiles.

PFAS contaminates coastal sediments
A 2012 study found PFOS and PFOA in Jakarta Bay sediments collected in 2004. PFOS was found in all samples. PFOA ranged up to 6.1 ug/kg dry weight – approximately ten times higher than the highest level observed in San Francisco Bay in the USA.

PFAS elimination contributes to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
Actions to control and phase-out PFAS as a class contribute to achievement of several key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to the impacts of the substances on health and ecosystems including water pollution. These include SDGs 3, 6, 9, 12, 14, 15, and 16

È il 2013 quando il Veneto viene scosso dalla diffusione della notizia di una contaminazione delle acque da sostanze perfluoroalchiliche, i PFAS. Ma è solo nel 2017 che ha inizio una mobilitazione cittadina da parte di un gruppo di genitori di Lonigo (Vicenza). Le “Mamme NoPfas” riempiono il vuoto comunicativo tra ambientalisti ed opinione pubblica, ponendo al centro dell'attenzione la salute dei propri figli in primis, compromessa per i decenni a venire, e in secondo luogo la difesa, o meglio, il ripristino della salubrità del proprio territorio, auspicandovi un'inversione del paradigma dominante. Storicizzando le tappe chehanno determinato il grado di riscontrata vulnerabilità sociale, ho indagato le pratiche quotidiane e i loro mutamenti; le percezioni – di sé, degli agenti contaminanti, del proprio territorio, della malattia, del rischio e della sicurezza; i meccanismi di mutamento sociale intervenuti in rapporto alle istituzioni politiche e sanitarie ai vari livelli. La chiave di lettura applicata è quella afferente all'antropologia del rischio e dei disastri e secondariamente all'antropologia del paesaggio. L'obiettivo dell'elaborato è mettere in luce le dinamiche socio-culturali intervenute in un quadro di alterazione e rottura dell'equilibrio preesistente tra ambiente, società e comparto industriale-tecnologico locale su uno sfondo di comprovata vulnerabilità fisica.

Public administration scholars have interrogated ethical governance and accountability in association with federal oversight amidst notorious crises and disasters (e.g., the 1990s financial crisis; the Challenger disaster; Hurricane Katrina; Abu Ghraib; and the Flint, Michigan water crisis) (see Balfour et al., 2014; Khademian, 2011; Lewis, 2010; Romzek & Dubnick, 1987). Few firsthand accounts of administrative ethics and leadership authored by federal execucrats exist, with the exception of recent books by former Surgeon General David Satcher and David Michaels, an epidemiologist and former Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) administrator (Riccucci, 1995; Satcher, 2020). Public service organizational leadership for equity, which is a focus of both books, is a critical area of public administration pedagogy (Van Wart & O’Farrell, 2007). The triumph of doubt: dark money and the science of deception is a necessary intervention in protecting public health and safety from being subsumed by private sector interests. Michaels employs the expertise of a regulator and researcher in his thoughtful, timely analysis of how corporations and trade associations have propped up “science as public relations” through reliance on mercenary scientists, think tanks, and scientific journals for hire.

China is among the largest producers and consumers of aqueous firefighting foams that contain fluorocarbon surfactants. Despite global phase-out initiatives of long chain "C8" perfluoroalkyl chemicals, perfluorooctanesulfonate is not banned yet in China. However, some manufacturers are voluntarily developing and producing short chain alternative fluorosurfactant products for foreign markets. Quantification of perfluoroalkyl substances and their precursors (by total oxidizable precursor assay) in fluorosurfactants used for the preparation of aqueous film-forming foams in China demonstrates that perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorooctanoate are still significantly present in certain domestic products. However, such compounds, as well as the other long chain homologues, are not detected in alternative products (produced in China for use abroad). In particular, such products are based on telomerization and seem to evolve toward smaller amounts of fluorinated chemicals and shorter chain fluoroalkyl compounds. These findings imply that in China a rapid and cost-effective transition from long chain-based aqueous film-forming foams to the short chain ones is possible. This might result in a reduction of environmental and human health risks not only in China but also in the wider world.

Reports of environmental and human health impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have greatly increased in the peer-reviewed literature. The goals of this review are to assess the state of the science regarding toxicological effects of PFAS, and to develop strategies for advancing knowledge on the health effects of this large family of chemicals. Currently, much of the toxicity data available for PFAS are for a handful of chemicals, primarily legacy PFAS such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Epidemiological studies have revealed associations between exposure to specific PFAS and a variety of health effects, including altered immune and thyroid function, liver disease, lipid and insulin dysregulation, kidney disease, adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes, and cancer. Concordance with experimental animal data exists for many of these effects. However, information on modes of action and adverse outcome pathways must be expanded, and profound differences in PFAS toxicokinetic properties must be considered in understanding differences in responses between sexes and among species and life stages. With many health effects noted for a relative few example compounds, and hundreds of other PFAS in commerce lacking toxicity data, more contemporary and high throughput approaches such as read across, molecular dynamics, and protein modeling are proposed to accelerate the development of toxicity information on emerging and legacy PFAS, individually and as mixtures. Additionally, an appropriate degree of precaution, given what is already known from the PFAS examples noted here, may be needed to protect human health. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article examines how ignorance can be produced by regulatory systems. Using the case of contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), we identify patterns of institutionalized ignorance in U.S. chemical regulation. Drawing on in-depth interviews and archival research, we develop a chemical regulatory pathway approach to study knowledge and ignorance production through the regulatory framework, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Investigating TSCA's operation, we consider why PFAS were relatively recently recognized as a significant public health threat, despite evidence of their risks in the 1960s. The historical context of TSCA's enactment, including the mobilization of the chemical industry, contributed to the institutionalization of organizational practices promoting distinct types of ignorance based on stakeholder position: chemical manufacturers who have discretion over knowledge production and dissemination, regulators who operate under selective ignorance, and communities and consumers who experience nescience, or total surprise.

Some landfills receive waste sources such as foundries, incinerators or similar sources which contain oxidizing elements and generate extremely high temperatures in landfill. Leachate from these landfill (Elevated Temperature Landfills, ETLFs or ET landfill) exhibit very high levels or BOD, COD and other contaminants which are difficult to treat. This paper describes a process by which the levels of these parameters are reduced from around 70,000mg/l and 40,000 mg/l to around 5000 mg/l and 2000 mg/l, respectively.

Among other emerging contaminants in water, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have garnered international attention from the scientific community on a global scale. Some countries, such as the United States, have found that PFASs are present in humans on a wide scale. Although two PFASs have been widely studied-Perfluorooctanoic acid and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid-many more PFASs are being created by industry and are either not known, not studied, or both. The objective of this literature review on PFASs is to give an overview of the information available about PFASs related to human exposure. The information from this literature review on the exposure of humans to PFASs through drinking water and the lack of many conventional drinking water treatment systems' ability to remove PFASs (particularly short-chain PFASs) suggests that current regulatory limits are insufficient to adequately protect humans. This is especially true for particularly vulnerable populations suc...

El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación es analizar la efectividad de la oxidación electroquímica en la degradación de sustancias poli-perfluoroalquiladas, mediante una revisión bibliográfica TFG, para lo cual se realiza una investigación documental, donde se recopila información y datos pertinentes que permitan establecer una relación entre la información encontrada. Los resultados indicaron que pese a que las sustancias poli y perfluoroalquilos (PFAS) tengan alta resistencia al momento de degradarse, la oxidación electroquímica de los ácidos poli y perfluoroalquilos ha mostrado resultados muy prometedores. Puesto que al hacer uso de la oxidación electroquímica se toma como medio los ánodos de diamante dopado con boro (BDD), lo cual permite mineralizar satisfactoriamente los ácidos poli y perfluoroalquilos.

The objective of this research work is to analyze the effectiveness of electrochemical oxidation in the degradation of poly and perfluoroalkyl substances, by means of a TFG literature review, for which documentary research is carried out, where relevant information and data are collected to establish a relationship between the information found. The results indicated that despite the fact that poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have high resistance at the time of degradation, the electrochemical oxidation of poly and perfluoroalkyl acids has shown very promising results. Since the electrochemical oxidation uses boron-doped diamond anodes (BDD) as a medium, which allows the poly- and perfluoroalkyl acids to be successfully mineralized.

Because of the extreme persistence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and their associated risks, the Madrid Statement argues for stopping their use where they are deemed not essential or when safer alternatives exist. To determine when uses of PFASs have an essential function in modern society, and when they do not, is not an easy task. Here, we: 1) develop the concept of “essential use” based on an existing approach described in the Montreal Protocol, 2) apply the concept to various uses of PFASs to determine the feasibility of elimination or substitution of PFASs in each use category, and 3) outline the challenges for phasing out uses of PFASs in society. In brief, we developed three distinct categories to describe the different levels of essentiality of individual uses. A phase-out of many uses of PFASs can be implemented because they are not necessary for the betterment of society in terms of health and safety, or because functional alternatives are currently availa...

Th  is article examines the social life of PFAS contamination (a class of sev-eral  thousand  synthetic  per-  and  polyfl  uoroalkyl  substances)  and  maps  the  growing  research in the social sciences on the unique conundrums and complex travels of the “forever chemical.” We explore social, political, and cultural dimensions of PFAS tox-icity, especially how PFAS move from unseen sites into individual bodies and into the public eye in late industrial contexts; how toxicity is comprehended, experienced, and imagined;  the  factors  shaping  regulatory  action  and  ignorance;  and  how  PFAS  have  been  the  subject  of  competing  forms  of  knowledge  production.  Lastly,  we  highlight  how people mobilize collectively, or become demobilized, in response to PFAS pollu-tion/toxicity.  We  argue  that  PFAS  exposure  experiences,  perceptions,  and  responses  move dynamically through a “toxicity continuum” spanning invisibility, suff ering, res-ignation, and refusal. We off  er the concept of the “toxic event” as a way to make sense of the contexts and conditions by which otherwise invisible pollution/toxicity turns into public, mass-mediated, and political episodes. We ground our review in our ongoing multisited ethnographic research on the PFAS exposure experience.

Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of durable and stable chemicals, which have been used in non-stick cookware, fire retardant materials and stain resistant carpets and have found their ways to Nation's drinking water stream through landfill leachate. Clark Technology's LeachBuster system was used to remove these contaminants from leachate streams for over 4 years. This article is a summary of the results of this study. Concentration of these substances ranged from around 0.5 Nano grams/liter (ng/l) to around 500 ng/l. The system remove all of these compounds from the leachate to under 2 ng/l which is well below the required discharge limits for most of the regulatory bodies.. Introduction:

Among other emerging contaminants in water, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have garnered international attention from the scientific community on a global scale. Some countries, such as the United States, have found that PFASs are present in humans on a wide scale. Although two PFASs have been widely studied-Perfluorooctanoic acid and Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid-many more PFASs are being created by industry and are either not known, not studied, or both. The objective of this literature review on PFASs is to give an overview of the information available about PFASs related to human exposure. The information from this literature review on the exposure of humans to PFASs through drinking water and the lack of many conventional drinking water treatment systems' ability to remove PFASs (particularly short-chain PFASs) suggests that current regulatory limits are insufficient to adequately protect humans. This is especially true for particularly vulnerable populations suc...