By Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie
In the modern world, we have countless products designed to keep us safe, particularly given the conveniences we enjoy today.
Take, for instance, the zip-lock bag—a product designed to keep your vegetables fresh and your meat or fish free from moisture, even while stored in your fridge or freezer.
Consider also the humble pizza box. These packaging solutions often contain a complex chemical compound known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a group of synthetic chemicals used in various products since the 1940s.
PFAS are known for their non-stick, waterproof, and stain-resistant properties. Common sources of PFAS include food packaging like microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes, non-stick cookware such as Teflon, and firefighting foam.
Drinking water contaminated by industrial waste or firefighting foam can also harbour these chemicals.
In many of our urban areas, where industries are sometimes located within residential neighbourhoods, the potential for these chemicals to infiltrate drinking water sources is significant.
The situation is even worse when you consider that these drinking water sources are often located in wells and faulty pipes running alongside open drains, where they frequently mix with waste.
Clothing and upholstery made or finished with waterproof materials or stain-resistant treatments also contain these chemicals.
In a previous essay on this page titled, ‘The Way We Build’ in 2020, the case was made that the majority of our towns and cities have been built in a chaotic manner since the British colonialists left our shores.
This chaos often resembles a functioning anarchy, with little regulation and almost no planning for the siting of amenities.
The result is a situation where every citizen fends for themselves, acting in ways convenient to them depending on their financial muscle to bend the building code—where such a code even exists.
Exposure to PFAS, therefore, can occur through the consumption of contaminated food or water and by inhaling dust or fumes from products containing these substances.
Skin contact with products containing PFAS is yet another way these chemicals can enter the body.
To minimise exposure to these chemicals, it is imperative to use non-stick cookware safely and avoid heating or warming food in microwave-safe containers. It is far safer to choose alternative products and support policies that limit PFAS use where these exist.
In some ways, the urgency of this situation mirrors the impact of chlorofluorocarbons in the cooling and refrigeration industries on global warming, which led to a worldwide agreement banning the use of these CFCs in fridges, air-conditioners, and freezers a generation ago.
Today, the risks associated with consuming PFAS include the suppression of the human immune system, which can then promote or encourage the emergence of uncommon diseases among the populace.
Other conditions often seen in association with PFAS exposure include various types of cancer, all of which are uncommon but increasingly being diagnosed in hospitals.
Some of these cancers are testicular, kidney, and thyroid cancer. The thyroid gland, in addition, can also suffer from problems that often lead to hormone disruption, a situation that fosters the emergence of various illnesses.
Additionally, people exposed to these compounds often suffer from a variety of reproductive issues, including reduced fertility rates, increased risk of pregnancy complications, and a rise in the incidence of babies born with birth defects.
More interesting still, there appears to be an increase in the number of children born to such women who experience neurological problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and decreased cognitive function. These are serious developmental challenges that usually leave parents confused and anxious. When confronted with such realities, parents often go into denial and blame their children’s challenges on something else.
Among adults, there are reports of increased cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease, which combine to increase the risk of cardiac ailments and overt heart disease.
Despite these known risks, various industries continue to use PFAS because they provide specific properties that are difficult to replicate with other products in the packaging industry and in making suitable kitchen appliances, such as durability, water resistance, and temperature resistance.
The non-stick properties unique to these compounds also help explain why they have been so resistant to change.
Lastly, PFAS have surfactant properties, which means they are able to stir up both physical and chemical reactions on the surfaces they come into contact with, aiding in cleaning.
The use of PFAS remains widespread, but some industries have started to look for alternatives or phase out their use of PFAS altogether. The dangers of PFAS became evident over several decades as scientific research and environmental monitoring progressed.
We will discuss a brief timeline of key developments shortly. Initial concerns about PFAS began to surface when studies in the 1960s and 1970s showed that these chemicals were persistent in the environment and could accumulate in living organisms.
By the 1990s, more detailed studies started to link PFAS exposure to adverse health effects. Research on workers in PFAS manufacturing plants revealed higher incidences of certain health issues, such as liver damage and elevated cholesterol levels.
And by the early 2000s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory bodies began to take action.
In 2006, the EPA launched the PFOA Stewardship Programme, aiming to reduce emissions and product content of certain PFAS chemicals by 95 per cent by 2010 and to work towards eliminating them altogether by 2015.
This mandate targeted the eight major American corporations in the PFAS industry with the task of making these commitments.
These moves became more urgent as, by the 2010s, growing evidence from epidemiological studies linked PFAS exposure to a broader range of health effects, including cancer, immune system suppression, and developmental issues in children, as previously mentioned.
