Zürich Statement on Future Actions on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals that contain at least one perfluoroalkyl moiety, [Formula: see text]. To date, over 4,000 unique PFASs have been used in technical applications and consumer products, and some of them have been detected globally in human and wildlife biomonitoring studies. Because of their extraordinary persistence, human and environmental exposure to PFASs will be a long-term source of concern. Some PFASs such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) have been investigated extensively and thus regulated, but for many other PFASs, knowledge about their current uses and hazards is still very limited or missing entirely. To address this problem and prepare an action plan for the assessment and management of PFASs in the coming years, a group of more than 50 international scientists and regulators held a two-day workshop in November, 2017. The group identified both the respective needs of and common goals shared by the scientific and the policy communities, made recommendations for cooperative actions, and outlined how the science-policy interface regarding PFASs can be strengthened using new approaches for assessing and managing highly persistent chemicals such as PFASs. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4158.

Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity, Developmental Neurotoxicity, and Tissue Dose in Zebrafish Exposed to GenX and Other PFAS

“…In addition to grouping PFAS based on attributes such as structure or biological activity, the Zürich statement also recommends amassing data on the toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of PFAS exposures, particularly those for which little toxicity data exist, with the goal of identifying safer PFAS that can be prioritized for commercial use (Ritscher et al 2018). Interestingly, we observed a trend of reduced BCFs with increasing nominal concentrations of several PFAS (i.e., ADONA, PFESA1, PFOA, and PFOS).…”

“…Zürich Statement on PFAS lays out a strategy for tackling the huge gap in our understanding of PFAS toxicity (Ritscher et al 2018). Given the large number of PFAS in commerce and rather than cataloging the effects of individual chemicals, the statement calls for action on grouping PFAS (Ritscher et al 2018).…”

“…Zürich Statement on PFAS lays out a strategy for tackling the huge gap in our understanding of PFAS toxicity (Ritscher et al 2018). Given the large number of PFAS in commerce and rather than cataloging the effects of individual chemicals, the statement calls for action on grouping PFAS (Ritscher et al 2018). One obvious way to achieve this is to group chemicals by their toxicological activities and, perhaps in doing so, identify structural features that provoke the same toxicity phenotypes in vivo.…”

“…Taken together, and in keeping with recommendations by the Zürich Statement (Ritscher et al 2018), we used zebrafish toxicity Figure 8. (Continued.)…”

Temporal trends of suspect- and target-per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), extractable organic fluorine (EOF) and total fluorine (TF) in pooled serum from first-time mothers in Uppsala, Sweden, 1996–2017

“…due to their stability along with surfactant and surface protection properties. 2 In the early 2000s, however, concerns were raised about the toxicity, bioaccumulation, environmental occurrence and persistence of some peruoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), in particular peruorooctanoate (PFOA) and peruorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). 2 While production and use of PFOS and PFOA has been reduced, the over 4600 registered PFAS which exist on the global market 3 has le questions regarding whether human and wildlife exposure to these chemicals is being underestimated.…”