Forever Chemicals including PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals widely used in industry and consumer products, and now detected across environmental media and human populations. This study assesses the societal costs of PFAS pollution in the European Economic Area (EEA) under four hypothetical exposure scenarios: 1) business as usual (BAU) for emissions; 2) full compliance with the Drinking Water Directive (DWD); 3) full compliance with Environmental Quality Standards (EQS); and 4) a total ban on PFAS production and use.

Significant increases in the presence of organofluorine compounds, especially per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been reported in the various environmental compartments.  Many of these compounds, including their precursors and metabolites, remain challenging to detect and quantify using current analytical methods.  PFAS have the potential to undergo metabolic transformation processes under biotic conditions in the presence of suitable microbial communities and under varying environmental conditions, each with its unique metabolic pathways.  Yet microbial degrada