Persistent, bioaccumulate and toxic
If you have ever purchased or used a cosmetic product that claimed to be sweat-proof (think antiperspirants), water-proof (think mascara), long-wearing (think make-up, lip gloss), durable, or one that promised glowing skin or shiny hair, chances are, it contained PFAS.
PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and is a blanket term for human-made and commercially available chemicals, polymers, and mixtures, containing chains of fluorinated carbon atoms. Of thousands of these, the two most common are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Introduced by manufacturers like 3M in the 1940s, PFAS are used in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial applications because of their unique chemical and physical properties, including oil and water repellence, temperature and chemical resistance, and surfactant properties.
PFAS have been linked to infertility, cancers, reproductive issues, abnormal development, thyroid disease, liver damage, and more, and can be passed from a mother’s uterus to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Dubbed ‘forever chemicals’ due to the fact that they don’t fully break down, PFAS bioaccumulate and biomagnify in our environment, contaminating groundwater, waterways, oceans, soil, air, animals, and humans. The European Environmental Agency (EEA) states, “While the long-chain PFAS accumulate in humans, animals, and sediment/soil, the short-chain PFAS accumulate in
