Information Requirements under the Essential-Use Concept: PFAS Case Studies
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of substances for which there are widespread concerns about their extreme persistence in combination with toxic effects. It has been argued that PFAS should only be employed in those uses that are necessary for health or safety or are critical for the functioning of society and where no alternatives are available ("essential-use concept"). Implementing the essential-use concept requires a sufficient understanding of the current uses of PFAS and of the availability, suitability, and hazardous properties of alternatives. To illustrate the information requirements under the essential-use concept, we investigate seven different PFAS uses, three in consumer products and four industrial applications. We investigate how much information is available on the types and functions of PFAS in these uses, how much information is available on alternatives, their performance and hazardous properties and, finally, whether this information is sufficient as a basis for deciding on the essentiality of a PFAS use. The results show (i) the uses of PFAS are highly diverse and information on alternatives is often limited or lacking; (ii) PFAS in consumer products often are relatively easy to replace; (iii) PFAS uses in industrial processes can be highly complex and a thorough evaluation of the technical function of each PFAS and of the suitability of alternatives is needed; (iv) more coordination among PFAS manufacturers, manufacturers of alternatives to PFAS, users of these materials, government authorities, and other stakeholders is needed to make the process of phasing out PFAS more transparent and coherent.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
---|---|
Tidsskrift | Environmental Science and Technology |
Vol/bind | 56 |
Udgave nummer | 10 |
Sider (fra-til) | 6232-6242 |
ISSN | 0013-936X |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2022 |
Eksternt udgivet | Ja |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:
Helpful feedback on case study descriptions (bicycle lubricants, chrome plating, fluoropolymers, semiconductors) by representatives of Arkema, Faraday Technology, Fenwick’s, IBM, and MacDermid is gratefully acknowledged. J.G. acknowledges funding from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment. This work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement 860665 (PERFORCE3 Innovative Training Network). R. Lohmann acknowledges funding from the NIH Superfund Research Program (P42ES027706), and SERDP (ER18-1280 and ER20-1293). C.A.N. acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (grant 1845336). M.S. acknowledges funding by the CETOCOEN PLUS project (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000469), the project CETOCOEN EXCELLENCE (No CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_043/0009632) and RECETOX RI (No LM2018121) financed by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. We thank A. Lindstrom (USEPA) for valuable contributions. This article has been supported by the Global PFAS Science Panel. We thank the Tides Foundation for support (grant 1907-59084).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
ID: 333776992