Pfas discovered in every third daily product

Textiles, kitchen and health products were checked at home, among other things. “Each fifth tested product even contained PFAs in quantities that are above the current or future EU limit values,” the testers report in the magazine “Consumer” (May Edition). The frightening high distribution of industrial emission messages “unforeseeable health and the environment”. According to VKI, they are associated with diseases such as liver and kidney damage, reproductive problems, disorders of the immune system and certain types of cancer.

PFAs are used because of their dirt and water-repellent effects, there are a total of around 15,000 such connections. “The problem with PFAS is that they contain carbon luor bindings,” said VKI chemical expert Birgit Schiller. “That is why they can hardly be degradable in the environment, and that is why PFAs are also considered ‘eternal sliding chemicals’. You can now find them everywhere – in the ground, in the water and about the food chain you are increasingly in the human organism.”

Where PFAs were found
In addition to the VKI, organizations from Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Canada, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia were involved in the study. A total of 65 of the 229 products, about 30 percent, high amounts of organic fluorine were found, an indication of the use of PFAS, because these substances always contain carbon atoms, ie organic fluorine. In most, however, specific PFAs were also detectable. They contain 48 products (21 percent) in quantities that are even above current EU limit values.

Almost all product categories were affected: according to VKI, PFAs were in airports, baking paper, skin power and sports tires, textile -impregnation sprays, menstruation underwear, muffin and cupcake forms, popcorn bags, dental floss and bracelettes for fitness trackers. Of the 59 textile samples surveyed, 41 percent contained PFAs. This was particularly the case on tablecloths, aprons and upholstery.

“It is also doubtful that almost every fifth product that comes into contact with food contained PFAs,” said Schiller. The spread goes much further. “We know from earlier exams that the chemicals can also contain in with non-stick-coated frying pans, outdoor clothing, cosmetics, prams, bicycle trailers, colors, bicycle oils or in furniture.” PFAs are omnipresent.

Identification required
The VKI is dedicated to a ban on PFAS. “Also because the negative consequences for health and the environment are currently not estimated,” Schiller warned. In any case, a mandatory labeling is necessary. Currently, such information on many products would be missing, so that consumers cannot recognize “whether these harmful connections have been included in everyday objects”.

If you want to avoid PFAS, you must pay attention to terms such as PFC, PFTE, Fluorelastomeer, Fluoropa Uphrijst, Fluoral Polymer or Fluorine Paved Material for the product information. These materials are all made with PFAs. With textile you can fall back on eco-labels such as Öko-Tex 100 or Gots.

Keep or throw away?
When it comes to the question “Save or throw away?” It depends on the product: PFAS is a problem, especially with production and removal, because they can get into the area, explained the VKI. During the lifespan, however, many products no longer have a direct danger – they can be used until they are worn out.

With certain consumer goods, PFAs can solve during use. According to the consumers’s proponents, this includes materials with contact with food such as butter bread paper, baking tins or damaged coated pans, as well as packaging such as baking paper, paper jaus bag or popcorn bags. Such products must be issued with as well as cosmetics or impregnating sprays that contain PFAS.