Firefighting foam, cleaning products, cosmetics, food packaging, carpets, and metal plating are just some of the products that contain PFAS - and widely used substitutes are still relatively rare.
But now increasing regulations, liability, and sustainability benchmarks are pushing companies to seek alternatives.
Jonatan Kleimark is an advisor with ChemSec, a Swedish government-funded organization that studies hazardous chemicals. He said finding alternatives is made harder by a lack of understanding of how PFAS are currently used.
“This information is extremely important for policymakers and authorities to understand where do we have alternatives and where do we not? Where can we regulate and where can we not?” Kleimark said.
Since PFAS are often multi-functional, Kleimark said many alternatives will be necessary for different industries, and some products like cosmetics, could work without PFAS or any substitutes.
"PFAS are extremely good at performing a specific function," Kleimark said. "That's why they are used so broadly. And we think that if we can find an alternative, that the solution for one function and use, is probably used in other sectors as well.”
Kleimark said ChemSec has developed a list of alternatives that are commercially available, safer than PFAS, and viable across specific sectors, but he said, there is still an overall lack of research to show alternatives are widely effective.
ChemSec is releasing a PFAS guide in February, which will help companies identify the uses and functions of PFAS across different sectors.
