Presentation: PFAS: Our Love-Hate Relationship

PFAS, frequently called the "forever chemicals" are found everywhere in our lives.  Created in a lab in the 1930s, per- and polyfluoroalkyls have a unique structure that makes them both hydrophilic and hydrophobic, making them the perfect grease and stain repellent.  PFAS change the surface tension on materials to which they are applied, making them perfect for non-stick cookware and easy-glide dental floss.  The carbon-fluorine bond, characteristic in all PFAS, is one of the strongest chemical bonds, making them resistant to breakdown at even extremely high temperatures.  This makes them perfect for use in firefighting foams used in complex, hard-to-fight fires.

Despite these qualities we have grown to love, we also now know they are correlated with a host of health issues.  They persist in the environment and bioaccumulated in animal tissue.  They have left legacy contamination in water supplies and soils.  They are like a guest who overstays their…