LGC AXIO Proficiency Testing | Emerging Pollutants of Environmental Concern: PFAS
The history of PFAS
The discovery of PFAS PFAS substances were actually discovered by accident in the 1930. In 1938, DuPont was conducting research to find new chemicals that could be used as refrigerants when its chemists stumbled upon an unusual coating in one of their test chambers. Testing revealed that the new substance, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), was chemically very stable and had a remarkable ability to repel water and oil. This was the first PFAS ever invented, and it was soon put to good use in the Manhattan Project because it could resist corrosion from fluorine in the gaseous diffusion process used to enrich uranium. After World War II, Dupont marketed this substance in a very successful product it called Teflon that was used in non-stick cookware and water and stain resistant fabrics. The discovery of Teflon is often cited as an example of serendipity, or accidental discovery. The release of Scotchgard Shortly thereafter, 3M discovered its own PFAS chemical, PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate), when they were trying to develop a rubber which would not deteriorate from exposure to jet fuel. During their experiments, some of the new substance was dropped on a laboratory assistant’s tennis shoe, and when the assistant tried to clean the substance from her shoe, she discovered that it was impervious to water and alcohol. 3M marketed the new material in 1956 as Scotchgard. The US Navy Base fire Development of these chemicals increased in the late 1960s after a deadly fire aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal, in 1967. The fire resulted from the accidental launch of a rocket into armed planes and loaded fuel tanks. This blaze nearly destroyed the ship and killed more than 130 people. Soon after the tragic incident, manufacturers and scientists developed PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) — a foam mixture that rapidly extinguishes fire. The PFAS allow the mixture to spread, making it highly effective against petroleum fires and other flammable-liquid fires when mixed with water. PFAS-containing AFFF was subsequently installed on military and civilian ships, airplanes and airports. The DuPont plant scandal In 1999, Wilbur Tennant, a farmer who lived next to a DuPont plant in West Virginia, sued the company after his cows started acting deranged and dying. During the discovery process in the litigation, Mr. Tennant’s lawyers unearthed DuPont documents showing that the company’s Washington Works factory in Parkersburg, W.Va., had been dumping a type of PFAS into the Ohio River and that the chemicals had contaminated drinking water supplies for more than 100,000 people. Studies connected with this litigation advanced our knowledge of health hazards related to PFAS exposure. PFAS chemicals have been associated with kidney and testicular cancers, reduced immunity, thyroid problems, liver ailments, and developmental issues with fetuses and breastfed infants.
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