“Forever chemicals in the food chain: environmental persistence, bioaccumulation, and implications of PFAS exposure for human and ecosystem health”

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large family of synthetic organofluorine compounds that have been widely used since the 1940s in industrial and consumer products; due to their extreme chemical stability, including non-stick cookware, water-resistant textiles, food packaging, and firefighting foams. Their unique chemical properties, most notably the extraordinary strength of the carbon-fluorine bond, make them highly resistant to thermal, chemical, and biological degradation. As a result, PFAS persist indefinitely in the environment, earning the designation of “forever chemicals”, bioaccumulating in living organisms, raising significant public health concerns. Due to their persistence and mobility, PFAS have become ubiquitous environmental contaminants, detected in soil, surface water, groundwater, air, and biota across the globe, including in remote ecosystems far from any direct source of contamination. Their amphiphilic nature facilitates uptake and translocation in plants, and their resistance to metabolism promotes bioaccumulation and biomagnification along food chains, ultimately reaching human populations through the consumption of contaminated water and food. Epidemiological and toxicological studies have linked chronic PFAS exposure to a range of adverse health outcomes, including disruption of the endocrine and immune systems, altered lipid metabolism, thyroid dysfunction, and increased risk of certain cancers. Growing regulatory concern has led to the progressive restriction of long-chain PFAS such as PFOS and PFOA in many jurisdictions, though their replacement with short-chain alternatives has raised new questions about comparative toxicity and environmental fate.