Overview

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a large group of man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1950s. In the United States, making and using these chemicals in consumer products has greatly decreased during the last 10 years, but people can still be exposed  to PFAS because they are still present in the environment. Scientists have studied how PFAS affect animals’ health but are still trying to understand how exposure to PFAS affects human health. Over the last decade, interest in PFAS has been growing. ATSDR and our state health partners are investigating exposure to PFAS at a number of sites.

PFAS are heat, oil, grease, and water resistant.

The two best known groups of this family of chemicals are the perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs), which include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, sometimes called C8), and the perfluorosulfonates (PFSAs), which include perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). PFCAs and PFSAs do not break down easily in the environment. They also bioaccumulate, or build up, in the blood and organs of exposed humans and animals and remain there for extended periods of time.

Some PFAS are precursors to PFCAs and PFSAs and can break down to those chemicals in the body or the environment.

The largest manufacturer of PFOS voluntarily stopped producing it in 2002. However, other countries still produce PFOS, and it can be imported into the United States in limited quantities. In 2006, EPA and major companies in the PFAS industry launched the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. Companies participating in the program are working to stop producing PFOA and related chemicals by 2015. These companies include Arkema, Asahi, BASF Corporation (successor to Ciba), Clariant, Daikin, 3M/Dyneon, DuPont, and Solvay Solexis.

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